need link to al Samoud II missiles dismantling on March 17 2003

[thereismore]

I searched with google, but all I find are commentaries, Iraq war timelines etc., that state, in essence, that the UN weapons inspectors left Iraq after Bush* gave everybody a 48-hour ultimatum on March 17.

What I need is an original, reputable, newspaper story (like NYT, Guardian, etc.) that will say that the weapons inspectors were on the ground, in Iraq, dismantling the al Samoud II missiles, when Bush* gave Saddam the 48-hour ultimatum. I think it's the last straw holding a friend of mine in the "justified war" camp. I know this is all true, I just need a good irrefutable source to show him.

Please help

[htuttle]

1. Here's a start

Right before they started destroying them, but had agreed to that week (from 2/28/2003):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2807073.stm

[htuttle]

2. Here's from a day or so later when they started to destroy them

Iraq destroys four banned missiles (3/1/2003)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2810231.stm

[ET Awful]

4. More destroyed a couple of days later

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/03/03/wirq03.xml

[thereismore]

10. Beautiful, great stuff. n/t

[thereismore]

9. Beautiful, thank you! n/t

[wtmusic]

3. The 48-hour ultimatum, IIRC, was for Saddam to surrender

or leave the country. The missiles were destroyed earlier.

[ET Awful]

5. I believe what he's trying to prove is that the missiles were destroyed

BEFORE Bush gave his ultimatum for Saddam to leave. If his friend believes that the existence of those missiles was justification for invasion, but the missiles were destroyed prior to the ultimatum being given, then the justification no longer existed.

[thereismore]

7. No, I am trying to show that the war was never a "last resort", that

the things were moving along, inspectors were doing their job, and the lame missiles were being destroyed at the moment Bush* gave Saddam the ultimatum. He also told the reporters and inspectors to leave the country, in a not-so-subtle hint that their personal safety cannot be guaranteed (war).

[wtmusic]

8. Yes - Saddam was not only in total UN compliance

but had met our independent demands, which he was under no obligation to do (correct me if I'm wrong)

[TheFarseer]

6. The Al Samoud II Missiles

were being destroyed well before the ultimatum. They were destroying a few a day. I don't remember if they had all been destroyed by the time of the invasion or if it was still on going. It was a detail lost in the shuffle. In any event those missiles are garbage from what I heard, with a range of not much more than a hundred miles.

[thereismore]

11. Precisely. They were no threat to the US. They were ballistic missiles

alright, but the range (183 km?) is laughable. But believe me, it is a nail in the wall where every freeper can hang his hat. They are the last straw that proves Iraq was no threat to US or Israel.

[ET Awful]

12. Their argument is that there was a limit set by the UN of 150km

So the Al Samoud II exceeded that limit by 13km. BUT, it exceed it only without a warhead or a guidance system installed (both of which are very heavy and reduce the range).

[thereismore]

13. Sure, but even if the range war a little bigger, the point is that they

could not reach the US or Israel, so, what preemptive strike???

It's like attacking someone in another city because you are afraid of his BB gun.