They can't get the engines to work right. It's not close to going into production, but they are persistent. Before the war, Iraq had many missiles, so presumably it still has the technology to build them, even though for a decade it has been proscribed from working on longer-range missiles and from buying equipment. The disclosure of the missile tests comes at a time when the administration's policy toward Iraq has faced intensifying diplomatic criticism and international concern that economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations are punishing the Iraqi people, not Mr. Hussein's government. The administration's policy is also emerging as an issue in the presidential campaign between Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush of Texas.
Paralysis is probably more appropriate.
Since the attacks in 1998, there have been no international inspections of Iraq's weapons programs, and for months before there there was little meaningful monitoring because of Iraq's refusal to cooperate. Earlier this year, the United States joined the other members of the United Nations Security Council in approving a new inspection system, but the system's new director, Hans Blix, has moved slowly to assemble a team of inspectors. Despite an offer to ease the sanctions if the new inspections find no evidence of weapons programs, Iraq has insisted that it will not cooperate with any new inspectors. Iraq first tested the missile in 1997 under supervision of the previous team of international inspectors, which sought to ensure that the missile remained within the prescribed range. With the American and British strikes in 1998, Pentagon officials said they set back Iraq's missile program one to two years.