It’s really a sight to behold when the United Nations actually does its job and averts a war.

Yet last week, the United Nations accomplished just that feat, when the “World Government” allowed Saddam Hussein to re-agree to the cease-fire agreement of 1991, allowing for the return of U.N.-sanctioned weapons inspectors to Iraq. This move effectively stalls President Bush’s plans to send in a military force to depose the dictator.

Almost immediately, the anti-Iraqi coalition the United States had been furiously working to form completely collapsed as Russia, China and France backed off the war talk and accepted Hussein’s offer as an olive branch of peace.

Could this really be it? Not with a bang but with a whimper, the Iraq-America conflict will come to an end with the disarmament of Hussein’s prized weapons of mass destruction? Please. Even the United Nations can’t be this naive.

Apparently Kofi Annan was so pleased with himself he forgot to mention Hussein has demanded that several special “conditions” be met before the inspectors return. Among the most ridiculous of these requirements include that Israel should be subject to the same weapons inspections (I bet Saddam would just love to know where Israel keeps its nukes) and that the U.N. team must submit their daily itineraries 24 hours in advance.

A nice 24-hour headway should be ample time for the Iraqis to move their mobile weapons, mobile storage units and mobile laboratories far from the prying eyes of the U.N. inspectors. And should these inspectors step out of line and change their plans, they will be summarily expelled from the country for “espionage,” and Saddam will demand new replacements. Just like last time.

To make matters worse, these U.N. weapons inspections are practically doomed to fail from the get-go, as a measly staff of 63 people is tasked with a tremendous search to uncover all of Saddam’s little hiding places. In an interview with CNN, David Kay, chief weapons inspector from 1991 to 1993, claims an effective search will require at least 1,000 inspectors to fully traverse all the suspected sites, draining any confidence once felt for this program.

Oh sure, I bet the UN team will be allowed to find some weapons: some SCUD missiles here, a VX gas canister there, but Saddam will allow nothing substantial to be destroyed. Throughout the last 10 years, the United Nations has never found any substantial caches of Saddam’s biological weapons, yet literally tons of samples are unaccounted for. History has shown us that Hussein would rather let millions of his own subjects starve than give up his precious arsenal, why all of a sudden, would he start cooperating now?

So just like last time, we will once again begin the ridiculous and fruitless process of sending in weapons inspectors to Iraq, where they will immediately be denied access to all the places the United Nations wants them to inspect. This allows Saddam to jerk the rest of the world around on a line so he can hang on to power for a little bit longer, maybe even long enough to finish that A-bomb program he’s been working on.

But regardless of Saddam’s timetables, the United Nations believes the inspection process should last an entire year at the end of which will come an evaluation of the situation, and a final vote will determine whether or not force is necessary to oust Saddam. Yes, a year–365 days–from an approximate date two months from now when the inspectors actually arrive in Iraq.

Saddam could really use a good year of stagnation, as it will soften the urgency of the United States’ case even further. So when this vote is finally called, regardless of whether or not the weapons inspectors actually accomplished all their goals, the powerful Arab lobby will see to it no invasion takes place, effectively screwing the United States and Britain and once again confirming the United Nations’ status as the most impotent governing body on Earth.

By effectively creating an excellent “cop-out” for themselves, the United Nations and Iraq have thrown the ball into the United States’ court, practically daring us to attack unilaterally because that’s the only way Saddam is going to be removed from power.

Personally, I do not want a military confrontation with Iraq. Regardless of how well the United States annihilates the Iraqi army in the deserts, the urban combat in Baghdad will be fierce and the United States will probably pay a high price in order to depose Hussein. Then there are the ever-looming fears of Saddam actually using his terrible weapons of mass destruction.

Deep down, I really, truly hope Saddam will relent and hand over his weapons, but history proves the appeasement and coddling methods the United Nations puts so much stock in are not the best ways to bring down a dangerous regime.