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U.N. Weapons Inspectors may be Independent but not Neutral

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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: At the heart of the weapons crisis, Iraq's strong distrust of the U.N. weapon inspectors.

As CNN's military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports, Baghdad insists inspectors are really collecting intelligence for the United States.

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JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraq's charge is that U.N. inspectors like American Scott Ritter are essentially spies, who have passed intelligence to the Pentagon, which has used it to pick better targets.

TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEP. PRIME MINISTER: They are serving the purposes of the CIA and the Mossad -- and I mean UNSCOM.

MCINTYRE: UNSCOM, the United Nations special commission, says it gets intelligence from more than 40 different countries, but has strict rules against giving anything in return.

CHARLES DUELFER, UNSCOM DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Our inspectors are supposed to collect information for the special commission. They are not authorized to share that information unless it's specifically authorized by us.

MCINTYRE: But privately, Pentagon officials and former inspectors acknowledge there is a two-way exchange of information as inspectors cross check intelligence reports against what they find on the ground in Iraq. And inevitably, some of that information gets back the U.S. government, although often indirectly.

WILLIAM COHEN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: I see no conflict in getting information from whatever source we can get information.

MCINTYRE: So does that make the U.N. inspectors spies guilty of espionage?

DAVID KAY, FORMER U.N. INSPECTOR: Well, if spying and espionage means trying to pry out secrets that a government doesn't want you to have -- everyone who operates in Iraq today is, by definition, engaged in that sort of information gathering.

MCINTYRE: And while the U.N. inspectors are independent, that doesn't mean they are neutral.

KAY: U.N. employees are not neutral with regard to the resolutions passed by the security council or the general assembly. They are required to implement them.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The United Nations special works hard to counter the perception its inspectors work for anyone but the U.N., but it also admits it can't erase their knowledge when they leave. And given that some of those inspectors are civilian employees of the Pentagon, it's no surprise sources say their expertise has been used to refine the target lists in Iraq.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

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