Need help with WMD inspector information

[Killarney]

I know that a ton of people here know much more about the weapons inspectors history in Iraq than me. I've tried to find this info online and haven't had luck yet so figured I'd ask.

I'm involved in a little debate with a Republican friend of the family. Not a nutjob, so he's reasonable to debate with. He claims that inspectors were out of Iraq from 1998 until "the Bush administration forced them back in in November 2002". He provided a link to a conservative blog as proof. Is that true? If not, do you have a link I could use?

Thanks for much for your help.

[BillZBubb]

1. Google Scott Ritter

Ritter has written some excellent pieces on this issue.

BTW, your friend is correct (except the Bush* spin). The UN withdrew the inspectors in 1998. But, by that time they were pretty convinced Saddam Hussein had no more WMD or WMD capabilies. Read Ritter.

[gbwarming]

2. The timing is right. Kerry voted for the Iraq resolution to get them in.

Here's some basic info. If you search on UNSCOM, UNMOVIC, Butler, Ritter or Blix you should be able to find lots more

The UNSCOM inspectors were in Iraq up unitl 1998. The were pulled out prior to US bombing. The US was illegally using the inspection team to spy on Iraq.
http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/s/index.html

Inpectors were allowed back into Iraq after the Iraq resolution (usually called the IWR here) was passed. Hans Blix reported that Iraq was substantially complying with the inspections. There are daily summary reports from the inspeciton teams at this site.
http://www.unmovic.org/

[usurper4]

3. He's accurate, BUT

I bet he's operating under the assumption that Hussein kicked out the UN weapons inspectors...which is spin.
http://www.fair.org/extra/0210/inspectors.html

The U.N. orders its weapons inspectors to leave Iraq after the chief inspector reports Baghdad is not fully cooperating with them.

-- Sheila MacVicar, ABC World News This Morning, 12/16/98

To bolster its claim, Iraq let reporters see one laboratory U.N. inspectors once visited before they were kicked out four years ago.

--John McWethy, ABC World News Tonight, 8/12/02

It has been determined nowadays that the "not fully cooperating" part is, in reality, a term for "we weren't finding what was supposed to be there". In other words, they had no WMD back then, either.