BLIX BIAS

Hans Blix has tried over the last several months to be perceived as both tough and fair. While giving lip service to the "last chance for Iraq" school of thought and stating on numerous occasions that Iraq hasn't disarmed, he has also demanded more time to prepare additional reports on Iraq's (non)compliance, despite the lack of authority in Resolution 1441. Last week he gave his oral report to the UN Security Council, and I half expected him to segue into an episode of Sprockets. The thrust of the oral statement...Iraq is starting to be very helpful. Not exactly the same as saying "Iraq has disarmed" as required by 1441, but understood to be the same by the French. Now, it appears that Blix buried a bombshell -- the existence of an unmanned drone configured to deliver chemical or biological weapons. The drone was not declared in Iraq's statement to the Security Council, and that would be a material breach to any intelligent observer. But the question remains -- Are the French intelligent?