Blix attacks coalition over “unjustified” war
Former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has spoken out about the Iraq war, claiming that it was “unjustified” and that the US and UK had exaggerated information from their intelligence services.
Asked if the case for war had been exaggerated by Washington and London, Dr Blix replied, “They over-interpreted.”
Dr Blix led UN weapons inspectors in Iraq in the weeks before the conflict and had to evacuate the area with his team when the US decided to invade.
Asked if he thought the war against Saddam Hussein’s government was justified, Dr Blix answered, “No, I don’t think so.”
In an interview with BBC radio he compared the two countries to medieval witch-hunters and said a British dossier on Iraqi banned weapons “lead the reader to the conclusions that are a little further reaching” than was the case.
“We know advertisers will advertise a refrigerator in terms that we don’t quite believe in, but we expect governments to be more serious and have more credibility,” he added.
Dr Blix criticised the “culture of spin, of hyping” and told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he hoped government’s would show more care in their use of intelligence in future.
The British Foreign Office retaliated saying Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction was a matter of fact and the search for them would continue.
However, Dr Blix has already suggested that the former Iraqi regime may have destroyed their weapons of mass destruction in 1991, after the first Gulf War.
Dr Blix’s comments will add fuel to the criticism of the government over the death of Dr David Kelly and the ongoing inquiry into his death.
Speaking about the controversial September dossier, Dr Blix said, “The UK paper that came out in September last year with the famous words about the 45 minutes – when you read the text exactly I get the impression it wants to convey to the reader and lead the reader to conclusions that are a little further reaching than the text needs to mean.
“One can read it restrictively but one can also lead to far-reaching conclusions and I think many people did.”
The UN weapons expert insisted that the coalition could have waited and continued with UN inspections for a few more months, but they did not have the patience to do so.
