Blix questions judgment behind Iraq war

Hans Blix, the former executive chairman of the UN weapons inspection team in Iraq, AP photo

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136443&sectionid=351021806

The former UN weapons inspector questions the judgment of Britain and the US in their decision to invade Iraq despite lack of evidence regarding the country's possession of WMD.

Hans Blix, the former executive chairman of the UN weapons inspection team in Iraq from March 2000 to June 2003, made the remarks on Tuesday while testifying at the independent Iraq Inquiry.

Blix said that he had initially thought Iraq had weapons of mass destructions, but when none were found upon the inspections, he warned the US and Britain that it was unlikely Saddam Hussein had illegal weapons, Reuters reported.

"What was really important was about this business of sites given, was that when we reported we did not find any WMD (weapons of mass destruction) they should have realized in Washington and London that their sources were poor," he added.

"What I question was the good judgment, particularly in [former US President George W.] Bush but also in [former British Prime Minister Tony] Blair's judgment," he added.

According to Blix, his concerns were ignored by Blair and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The former UN weapons inspector said that his team wanted to continue inspections, "But the military timetable did not permit that."
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2010 Jul 27

Hans Blix to appear at Iraq inquiry




Hans Blix has accused the US and UK of
dramatising intelligence on Iraq's weapons [EPA]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/07/201072775116884417.html

Hans Blix, the former head of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq, is to give evidence before a British public inquiry into the 2003 conflict.

The Swedish diplomat, who previously called the invasion a "tragedy" and "spectacular failure", is expected to speak about his tense relationships with former US and UK leaders in the run up to the war.

Blix revealed earlier this year that he had urged Tony Blair in the month before the invasion, to consider the possibility that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction.

He has also accused the UK and US governments of dramatising the limited intelligence on Iraq's weapons, saying: "The allied powers were on thin ice, but they preferred to replace question marks with exclamation marks".

Blix, who conducted inspections in Iraq from November 2002 to March 2003, had warned Saddam of "serious consequences" if he failed to co-operate with his team and comply with UN Security Council resolution 1441.

Retrospective Gloss

Earlier this year, Blair told the inquiry in London that Blix had been clear in his reports in the run-up to the war that Saddam was not complying with international demands.

"Hans Blix obviously takes a certain view now," he told the hearing.

"I have to say in my conversations with him then it was a little different."

Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary, also suggested that Blix may have applied a retrospective "gloss" to his actions at the time.

"There are some of those who were involved who sought to give an account of what they were saying at the time without gloss," he told the inquiry earlier this year.

"There are others who have sought to give an account of what they thought they were saying at the time with gloss, and I think the jury is out on which camp Dr Blix is in."

But critics of the war say that Blix should have been given more time to establish whether or not Saddam was hiding stocks of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

Blix is the first foreign witness to give evidence at a public hearing of the inquiry, though others have spoken to the five-member panel, headed by John Chilcot, a former civil servant, in private during visits to the US and France.