The terrified and brutalised people of Iraq will rejoice at the downfall of Saddam Hussein.

And when we finally smash his evil regime suddenly those countries that doubt us will have their eyes opened. Meanwhile UN weapons inspectors are being seriously deceived.

The intention is they should verify Saddam has destroyed his weapons of mass destruction. The Iraqis should have turned over details of when, where, and how this takes place. But Saddam has given no such information. The inspectors have been fooled yet again.

It reminds me of the way the Nazis hoodwinked Red Cross officials inspecting the concentration camp at Theresienstadt in 1944. The SS even organised a phoney concert to show what a wonderful new home the Jews had.

But Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has more evidence of secret weapons dumps.

Attack

Nevertheless the French will want to use their UN veto, even though they know there are weapons hidden in Iraq. I have spoken to three senior French officials convinced Jacques Chirac's stance is wrong.

And the current French-German collaboration will come under great pressure. German chancellor Gerhard Schroder's position, plus the petulance and obstruction of the French, will cause a rethink of the NATO alliance.

As for Turkey, they seem to believe Iraq's assurance that they are safe from attack. But if I had to choose between Saddam's word or Patriot missiles that could intercept him if he is lying, I would go for the Patriots.

My hope is we can take out Saddam and put him on trial.

Richard Perle is a resident fellow at AEI.