CarolC,

"No, my contention is that saying Iraq has had 12 years of non-compliance is a specious argument. Let's start the countdown from the time that the last batch of inspectors left Iraq (at which time, according to them, about 95 percent of Saddam's WMDs were destroyed). When was that, 1998? If so, that would be five years of non-compliance."

No Carol - for your contention to be correct it would mean that from 1991 until 1998 Saddam Hussein and Ba'athist Regime in power in Iraq had complied - the international community know that that was not the case as reported to them by the IAEA and UNSCOM inspectors - Saddam Hussein has been in non-compliance with UN Resolutions since 1991 - Fact, fully accepted by the UN Security Council when it unanimously passed Resolution 1441.