Tue April 22, 2003 10:24 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday balked at proposals to quickly return U.N. inspectors to Iraq ... "We are looking forward, not backward. Saddam Hussein's regime is gone, and we will need to reassess the framework design to disarm the regime given the new facts on the ground," Fleischer told reporters.
"It's important to maintain the principle that America does not get inspected, even brand-new bits of America like the state of Iraqachusetts." Fleishcer continued, adding that "Iraqasota" and "East Texas" were also under consideration as names for the new Iraq. "Let's face it -- what we do with our own germ stockpiles, however recently acquired - is nobody's business. We all know those UN Teams are just excuses to spy on sovereign states, and to pry into things that are none of their business, like suspiciously large armor concentrations near the Syrian Border."