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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 11 April 13 - 19, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
Hans
Blix: War Planned 'Long in Advance' News24.com Back
to Alternative Reader Index
Madrid
- The invasion of Iraq was planned a long time in advance, and the United States
and Britain are not primarily concerned with finding any banned weapons of mass
destruction, the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, said in an interview on
Wednesday. "There
is evidence that this war was planned well in advance. Sometimes this raises
doubts about their attitude to the (weapons) inspections," Blix told
Spanish daily El Pais. "I
now believe that finding weapons of mass destruction has been relegated, I would
say, to fourth place, which is why the United States and Britain are now waging
war on Iraq. Today
the main aim is to change the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein," he
said, according to the Spanish text of the interview. Blix
said US President George W Bush had told him in October 2002 that he backed the
UN's work to verify US and British claims that Baghdad was developing
biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. Washington
'less convinced now' But
he said he knew at the time "there were people within the Bush
administration who were sceptical and who were working on engineering regime
change". By the start of March the hawks in both Washington and London were
getting impatient, he added. Blix
said that he thought the US might initially have believed Iraq possessed weapons
of mass destruction - although its "fabrication" of evidence raised
doubts about even that - but that Washington was now less convinced by its own
claims. "I
think the Americans started the war thinking there were some. I think they now
believe less in that possibility. But
I don't know - you ask yourself a lot of questions when you see the things they
did to try and demonstrate that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons, like the fake
contract with Niger," he explained. That
was a reference to US allegations - later denied - that Iraq had sought to
purchase uranium from the west African state of Niger. "I'm
very curious to see if they do find any (weapons)," he said. Blix
said the war, which on Wednesday entered its 21st day, was "a very high
price to pay in terms of human lives and the destruction of a country" when
the threat of weapons proliferation could have been contained by UN inspections.
By
attacking Iraq, Washington had sent the wrong message - that if a country did
not possess biological, chemical or nuclear weapons, it risked being attacked. US
sending out the wrong signal "The
United States maintains that the war on Iraq is designed to send a signal to
other countries to keep away from weapons of mass destruction. But
people are getting a different message. Take
the announcement North Korea has just made. It's tantamount to saying 'if you
let in the inspectors, like Iraq did, you get attacked'. North
Korea accused the United States on Sunday of using a UN Security Council
discussion of its nuclear programme as a "prelude to war" and warned
that it would fully mobilise and strengthen its forces. "It's
an important problem," Blix continued. "If
a country perceives that its security is guaranteed, it won't need to consider
weapons of mass destruction.
This security guarantee is the first line of defence against the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." The 74-year-old Swede
announced in March that he would step down from his post when his contract runs
out in June. Blix's
reputation for independence and resisting political pressure was sorely tested
as the Iraq crisis unfolded and US officials became exasperated with his
measured reports on Iraqi cooperation with his inspection teams. (In
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed
without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational purposes.) April 9, 2003 Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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