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Originally Posted by dissention
If that's all you were trying to say, you should've said it that way, not shrouded your statement to make it sound like Saddam was actually playing cat and mouse about the inspections. That being said, I fail to see how his saying the palaces were off limits constituted any sort of game he was playing with the inspectors. I think this whole argument boils down to perception and we don't perceive this situation the same way. Saddam allowed inspections wherever and whenever, so the point is rather moot. He had no knowledge of when they were going to inspect, no knowledge of hwere they were going to inspect, and he allowed them to inspect every time they asked to do so.
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I always said that the cat and mouse game was part of the initial negotiations. I explicitly said several times I was not talking about any other time. I even cited to Blix saying Iraq gave them unfettered access.
I think initially not wanting to allow the inpectors into the palaces is significant because the inspectors said such access was necessary. Yet, SH tried to disallow it. Yes, he caved in later, but his initial refusal was "cat and mouse" in that he would allow the inspectors here but not there, even though the inspectors said they needed to go to both. So, that he eventually caved in does not in any way negate my statement that in the initial negotiations, SH was playing cat and mouse with the inspectors, the inspection process, whatever you want to call it. The end result is the same because if SH had won this point, the inspectors would not be allowed in where they said they needed to go. That was bad faith on the part of SH that the end result (the eventual allwance of unfettered inspections) does not cure. He was in no position to negotiate anything under the newest UN Resolution.