Defusing Iraq

The new U.S. chief weapons inspector reported to Congress this week that he lacked sufficient information to make judgments about Saddam Hussein’s weapons capabilities. Further, he said he does not know what the Iraqi dictator was planning to do or ordered his ministers to do with regard to weapons of mass destruction.

In his first report to Congress, Charles Duelfer said that with only six weeks on the job, it was too early for him to say how long it would take to reach final decisions on Iraq’s weapons programs. “I do not believe we have sufficient information and insight to make final judgments with confidence at this time,” he said.

Such admissions of uncertainty are tardy at best. At worst, they further undermine the Bush administration’s rationale for waging a war. More than that, the weapons question is becoming a distraction.

Mr. Duelfer’s report to Congress came a day before a mob in Fallujah killed and mutilated four U.S. security contractors in a scene reminiscent of Mogadishu in 1993. Then, during a failed attempt to capture a warlord, 18 soldiers were killed and locals dragged a soldier’s body through the streets of the Somali capital. Shortly after the horrible images from Africa were shown, Congress pressured President Clinton to bring the troops home from Somalia, which he did within the year. The Somalia images were also credited for keeping the United States out of Rwanda and for the turnaround of an American ship headed to Haiti where it was to be met by an angry mob on the dock.

It is too early to tell if the recent horrific images from Iraq will erode public and congressional support for the war and lead to calls that American soldiers be brought home from Iraq. Although such calls would be understandable, they cannot be heeded. Much work remains to be done by Americans, even after the June 30 handover of power to an Iraqi governing authority. The Fallujah killings show that security remains precarious, especially in the central part of the country. They show that factions angry at the American presence have not been disarmed or been dissuaded from their anger.

These are the issues that deserve attention now, not the failed hunt for weapons of mass destruction. That is not to say that the work Mr. Duelfer is doing should not continue. It should, but with an emphasis on the current conventional weapons situation in Iraq. He and his small team should ensure that no major weapons are unaccounted for and that caches are not available to outlaw groups like the one behind the events in Fallujah.

Of these, there should be no uncertainty.