Iraq's possession of al-Samoud missiles is a technical violation of the precarious peace that exists in that region. These missiles can travel a few miles too far to qualify as short-range weapns, and so must go. Dictator Saddam Hussein has begun destroying them, and may have given the French-led bloc of countries their first public relations win.
For those who remember the disarmament negotiations between Moscow and Washington in the 1980s, the last week of missile discussions recalled the good old days of throw-weights, MIRVing and megadeaths. But then, as now, the problem never was with the weapons but with the desire to use them. This discussions focused on the trivial because that was where progress could be made -- but then the progress itself was trivial.
However, the Bush administration has made disarmament the measure of Iraqi policy, and it is a tribute to Saddam Hussein's foolishness that he is not cooperating fully. Enter the al-Samouds. Iraqi is disarming, not enough, but it gives the French and Germans the ability to say that the inspection regime is working and it needs to run its course.
War still appears inevitable, but this issue has wrong-footed the Bush White House enough to make UN approval of war less likely. Of course, there is no reason for the Anglo-Americans to stop the march to war just because they can't pass a Security Council resolution next week.