The search for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction appears close to an official conclusion, several years after their absence became a foregone one.The United States and Britain have circulated a new proposal to the members of the United Nations Security Council to "terminate immediately the mandates" of the weapons inspectors. Staff meetings on the latest proposal have already taken place, and officials say that the permanent Council members, each of whom has veto power, seem ready to let the inspection group -- the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission -- meet its end.
In the heat of the debate leading to the Iraq invasion, the commission's vaguely Slavic-sounding acronym, Unmovic, rang out almost nonstop through the halls of the United Nations. Its inspection teams, at the very center of the worldwide debate over the war, supervised the destruction of rocket engines and fuel tanks.
The only reason they've kept it going this long is to provide some domestic political cover for Bush and Blair, but with Blair on the way out and Bush a lame duck, I guess they've even given up this charade.
It's a very sad thing that we went to war for a lie -- several lies, in fact, but this was the one that worked best for them, scaring us with talk of smallpox and nukes.
