The war of words between American and Iraqi officials continues. This morning, for a ninth time, Iraq barred U.S. inspectors from taking part in UNSCOM, the U.N. inspection team aimed at preventing Iraq from developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Iraq says the Americans are trying to prolong economic sanctions imposed after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz says, with so many Americans dominating the U.N. team, the deck is stacked against Iraq.

Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz: “Are they going to tell me, to assure me, that UNSCOM will act as a United Nations organ or to continue to act as an organ whose end user, the end user of its work, is either the Pentagon or the CIA or the State Department of the United States? I didn’t get any satisfactory answer to that.”

Today the U.N. Security Council is scheduled to vote on a new resolution imposing further restrictions on Iraq until it complies fully with U.N. inspections. Same sanctions were imposed three weeks ago by France and Russia, both Security Council members. Both countries also oppose the use of U.S. military force, should Iraq continue to defy the U.N.