Inspectors, Not Detectives - I'm

Inspectors, Not Detectives - I'm listening to Powell's speech to the UN right now. That was one point the French seem to keep missing - Blix is not Sherlock Holmes (although the Hercule Poirot resemblance is amazing).

Now, they're playing the tape of the Republican Guards talking about hiding material from the inspectors. One tape refers to attempts to conceal material. The other - tapes last week, according to Powell - is a discussion of instructions to clean up signs of forbidden materials, and destroy the order message.

I can hear the "peace movement" already: "So what? They're hiding things! We do it all the time!", or "It's all out of context!".

Still, so far Powell's speech seems to be building the legal case - the one the UN is most concerned with - that Iraq has flouted the UN's resolutions, and actively hindered the inspection process. Powell claims evidence that senior members of the Iraqi regime, including Saddam's son Qusay - were actively involved in hiding WMDs, including on their own private property. Powell asks "Are inspectors expected to inspect the property of every single government official?" Indeed.

UPDATE: Powell is now getting ready to show satellite imagery of Iraqi military units actively involved in dispersing WMDs.