Good question
"Are we to consider this just a continuation of the same fight of 10 years ago, paused but unfinished? Are treaties only scraps of paper?"
As part of the 1991 ceasefire agreement, Iraq promised to completely disarm with regards to WMDs. They have not, therefor they have broken that ceasefire agreement. So the answer to your second question appears to be yes, at least as far as Saddam is concerned.