An Analysis of UNSCOM

Abstract

Although UNSCOM functioned for over seven years, there was relatively little published analysis of the work of UNSCOM and what this meant for non-proliferation until after UNSCOM ceased to function in Iraq.¹ In part, this was because in the early 1990s it would have been premature to jump to conclusions as it is only since 1995 that a fuller appreciation of the extent of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programmes have become clear. Another contributing factor in the early years of UNSCOM was the importance of maintaining confidentiality in the face of Iraqi non-cooperation when it was vitally important to maintain pressure on Iraq to make full, final and complete disclosures (FFCDs) of its proscribed programmes. In the later 1990s the approach changed, with UNSCOM making presentations to Iraq at the political level of what the Commission’s appreciation is of the proscribed programmes in an attempt to expedite the completion of the Commission’s work.