Saddam's Shot Across The Bow

The signals from Iraq remain confused Thursday. United Nations monitors were allowed to go about their work, but it appeared that inspectors could not do so. The difference may be subtle, but it's the difference between a crisis and a bit of gamesmanship.

The Iraqis were apparently not providing escorts for inspectors. Then they said no inspections were scheduled anyway.

Inspectors search for evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program. Monitors check sites that have already been inspected to ensure they are not operating again. That, the Iraqis say, is fine. It's the constant and intrusive inspections they want ended.

But inspectors have to be satisfied that the program is finished before sanctions can be lifted. And sanctions are what this is really all about.

The U.N. embargo has gone on for nearly eight years. Ordinary Iraqis are suffering immeasurable hardships. In the process, they are developing a deep-rooted hatred for the West, the U.S. in particular.

The next major report to the U.N. Security Council on Iraqi cooperation and the state of the weapons program is due in October. The latest glitch appears to be Saddam Hussein's way of firing a "shot across the bow", letting the world know that if things don't go as he wants, he's more than capable of making trouble.