UN Iraq Weapons Inspection Team disbanded

More than four years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the United Nations Security Council has voted to disband its international monitoring group, the UN Monitoring, Verification & Inspections Commission. UNMOVIC unearthed no evidence of chemical or biological weapons activity in Iraq during its on-the-ground inspections from November 2002 to March 2003, but it was unable to dispel concerns that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had such active programs. After the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, UNMOVIC's inspection and monitoring chores were assumed by the CIA-led Iraq Survey Group, which also found no evidence of active chemical, biological, or nuclear programs. UNMOVIC was never responsible for uncovering evidence of nuclear activities, a task relegated to the International Atomic Energy Agency. UNMOVIC was the successor agency to the UN Special Commission on Iraq, which was established following the Gulf War in 1991. UNSCOM successfully found and destroyed Hussein's then-extensive chemical and biological weapons programs and dismantled Hussein's ballistic missile program. Since leaving Iraq in 2003, UNMOVIC has been analyzing satellite imagery of Iraqi sites. At the end of June, UNMOVIC released a massive report on its activities, touting success "in fulfilling its disarmament and monitoring obligations."