Is Iraq trying to hide something? It sure looked that way last week. Iraq's ruler, Saddam Hussein (Sah-dahm Who-sayn), would not allow Americans to inspect Iraqi weapons sites with other United Nations (U.N.) members. Then, when he thought no one was looking, Saddam moved some important equipment that could be used to manufacture forbidden weapons.
In 1991 the U.S. and its allies went to war with Iraq to turn back its invasion of neighboring Kuwait and to protect valuable oil fields. After the Persian Gulf War, the U.N. ordered Iraq to destroy all its "weapons of mass destruction." Iraq was warned not to make long-range and nuclear missiles or chemical weapons.
The U.N. checks up on Iraq with video cameras and sends inspectors to make sure that Iraq is following the rules. Last week Iraq's Foreign Minister admitted that Iraq had blocked U.N. cameras and moved sensitive equipment away from the inspectors.
Richard Butler, chief U.N. weapons inspector, said the Iraqis had put bags over the cameras or turned off lights. "It's pretty hard to take pictures when you've got no lights," he said. The U.S. vowed to punish Iraq if Saddam kept interfering with the inspections.