December 2002-March 2003: Critics Say US Trying to Use Inspections to Provoke Iraq

Critics argue that the Bush administration is attempting to use the inspections as a means of provoking resistance from Iraq so that Washington can claim it is in “further material breach.” The US would then cite this breach as justification for taking military action against Iraq. Critics also say that the administration’s agenda conflicts with the aims of the inspectors and that the US is undermining the inspectors’ work. [Mirror, 11/21/2002; Baltimore Sun, 12/3/2002; BBC, 12/19/2002]