REVIEW & OUTLOOK
[from the online WallStreet Journal]

MiGs in the Sand

They didn't get much attention, but two events last week shed light on the continuing search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. David Kay, the former chief U.N. weapons inspector now leading the WMD search, told a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill that "solid progress" is being made. "We're building a solid case that will stand," he said after the briefing, "and we welcome international scrutiny of that case after we have the evidence assembled."

At about the same time, coalition teams looking for WMD found dozens of Iraqi air force fighter jets buried beneath the sands at an airfield west of Baghdad. AP cites a Pentagon official who said the searchers noticed a pair of tail fins poking up in the sand. They turned out to belong to a Cold War-era MiG-25.

If it's possible to hide 30-plus aircraft for several months with 150,000 troops on the lookout, secreting vials of poison gas or anthrax has to be a cinch. Search teams are unlikely to stumble upon BW or CW by chance. Mr. Kay's comment that Iraqi scientists are "collaborating and cooperating" is encouraging, because such intelligence is the way we are likely to discover what Saddam Hussein was really up to.

One question, however, is whether some war critics will even believe such proof when they see it. After hearing Mr. Kay's testimony, Senator Ted Kennedy rushed out to say that, "It's looking more and more like a case of mass deception." He was referring to President Bush, not Saddam. So much for waiting for the evidence.

Updated August 4, 2003