To the Point

Iraq and Weapons Inspections

Today, the UN-s chief arms inspector has been briefing the Security Council about Iraq-s agreement for renewing inspections. However, the Bush administration opposes Hans Blix-s going back to work in Iraq without tough, new conditions, including a hair trigger for military enforcement. Meantime, some experts claim that, if the goal is disarmament, inspections will never work against a regime that-s determined to hide what it is really doing. We get a progress report on American efforts at the Security Council from a New York Times- reporter at the UN, and look at the history of weapons inspections in Iraq, with arms control experts from the American and UN-s nuclear watchdog agencies, a former UN weapons inspector, and the head of an organization that distributes information on the effects of war on the people of Iraq. Newsmaker: Pressure Builds to Settle West Coast Port Strike Despite union leaders- agreement to let federal mediators help resolve their grievances, dockworkers remain locked out of 29 West Coast ports. The stalemate has tied up shipping of everything from produce and toys to parts for electronics and autos. California Senator Dianne Feinstein says that if there is no resolution by week-s end, she-ll ask President Bush to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act. Reporter's Notebook: NYPD-s Former Top Cop Hired to Turn LAPD Around When he made the cover of Time for reducing crime in New York, he was forced to resign by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Now, Mayor Jim Hahn has named William Bratton as his choice for Los Angeles Police Chief. Fred Siegel, political historian and author of The Future Once Happened Here: New York, DC, LA and the Fate of America's Big Cities, says that Siegel-s -smart policing- might be just what LA needs.