Forum Lurker,

I think it could be a case of "Judge not a man by what he says, judge him by what he does".

The President and members of his administration have talked extremely toughly at times and I think it has always been with a purpose. Initially to get the UN to face up to it's responsibilities, and to get things moving. The sort of rhetoric coming out is also aimed at unsettling Saddam Hussein and the senior members of his government.

Every time the Inspectors have gone to the UN, Iraq must have held its breath waiting for the US to act. Hence every time some sort of concession was made by the Iraqi's to prove that the process of inspections was getting results. That is a delaying tactic that will only work for so long.

And that I believe is the same reason from the US & UK's side for the apparent constant change of emphasis - I say apparent because that is what it is. With the exception of "Regime change", all the others (nuclear, chemical/biological and human rights) are all mentioned through reference to earlier UNSC Resolutions in 1441. They are all real and alarming concerns and they must be resolved. By seeming to change emphasis it keeps the regime in Iraq wondering as to what they are going to have to concentrate and focus on for the next meeting. Therefore the US & UK get more mileage out of their tactics than Saddam will get out of his.

I mentioned the regime change thing, because the current President is fortunate enough to have people in his administration who have dealt with Saddam Hussein and his senior ministers in the past, under fairly similar circumstances - that experience is invaluable in the game being played at the moment. I think they know that purely with inspectors there (and it does not matter how many you have), concentrating on a fairly narrow band, Saddam will continue to give them the run around. What the US & UK want is to see full compliance with the letter and the intent - they know that that will not happen as long as Saddam is in power - hence the call for Regime change. It's another string to the bow when it comes to unsettling the opposition.