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Bush War Cabinet Close to Decision

(Washington Times) Joel Mowbray - In a Cabinet-level meeting Tuesday, the administration's heavy hitters discussed how to handle the looming deadline in the weapons inspection dance with Saddam Hussein: The infamous "list" that Iraq must produce by Dec. 8. The White House is inching closer to the position that the United States must declare a "material breach" when Saddam - as expected - hands the UN a sham list. Within the administration, there are two schools of thought about how to respond to Saddam's expected noncompliance. The wait-and-see crowd wants to give the weapons inspectors breathing room to find contraband, something that could take months or even a year or more. The competing faction, however, believes that the go-slow approach would do nothing but undermine our credibility, because we have already declared that Saddam has WMD capability. So, if he denies possessing what the U.S., through its intelligence, knows that Saddam in fact has, then a failure to call him out would erode our moral clarity.
2002-12-06 00:00:00
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