Saddam just can't cut it against Bertie in mass destruction stakes

IT was no coincidence that on the day Fianna Fáil began their two-day sit-in in Killarney Saddam Hussein offered to allow the UN weapons inspectors back into Iraq unconditionally.

He knew that by comparison with the Soldiers of Destiny, he was in the little league when it came to weapons of mass destruction.

In fairness to Saddam, we have only the rampant paranoia of George W. Bush, egged on by the husband of a leading English barrister, insinuating that he has some of the components for building a do-it- yourself nuclear bomb stashed away in a lock-up garage in some alleyway in Baghdad. On the other hand, we know that Fianna Fáil used a devastating weapon in this country a few weeks ago and the fall-out is going to continue interminably.