DiRita: Inspections were working. Well, sort of.

Josh Marshall has an item (approriately :-) about a "talking points" memo distributed by Larry Di Rita, Don Rumsfeld's spokesman, to Pentagon staffers.

Parts of this have been picked over elsewhere, but the part that jumped out at me is below the fold.

# During the 1990s, the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] reportedly destroyed or rendered harmless all "single use" (i.e., uniquely usable in the context of a nuclear program) equipment and material in Iraq.

# The material in question is "dual-use" equipment (which could have conventional applications), high explosives that are somewhat more powerful than TNT. This dual-use equipment was generally permitted to remain in Iraq.

Isn't it interesting that the Administration is now citing the work of weapons inspectors? Hadn't we always heard that the inspections were too ineffective to keep Saddam from developing WMD?

Yes, he uses the word "reportedly".  Nonetheless, if the Administration doesn't believe that this was likely to have happened, then surely they shouldn't be citing it in this context. If the inspectors weren't effective, then this part of the memo has no credibility.

Which is it?  Did inspections work, or didn't they?

Flip-flop, flip-flop.