Chief UN apologist Kofi Annan says Iraq is cooperating fully, and there is “no excuse” for military action before the end of January. And then, at the end of January, he’ll say there is no justification for military action until, oh, April or so. And then, before we know it, Saddam will have a nuclear weapon. Won’t Kofi be surprised!

Despite Annan’s insistence that inspections were proceeding smoothly, the chief of a missile facility which was scrutinized by inspectors Monday accused them of behaving like gangsters.

“A team of 25 inspectors stormed into the plant…in a way never seen before and in a manner similar to the work of gangs,” director of the facility Mohammad Hussein told reporters.