Blair “clinging” at straws on Iraq, says Blix
Tony Blair and US President George Bush are “clinging to straws” to justify the Iraq war, much respected UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, has said.
In the wake of this week’s Iraq Survey Group report which stated Iraq lacked weapons of mass destruction, Mr Blair and Mr Bush highlighted Charles Duelfer’s suggestion that Saddam Hussein may have started producing them again if UN sanctions were lifted.
Mr Blair said the author of the report made it clear Saddam had “every intention” of developing WMD.
But the former United Nations chief weapons inspector described this as “the new straw to which the governments have begun to cling.”
Mr Blix told The Independent on Sunday the argument was speculative and hypothetical. Mr Blix said the report underscored the view that “the reality on the ground was totally different from the virtual reality that had been spun.”
In any event, he said: “Even if sanctions were lifted any breakout by Saddam would have caused loud alarm bells to ring.
“Duelfer’s report confirms that the combination of UN sanctions and inspection, plus external pressures including the no-fly zones, had kept Saddam contained,” he added.
Mr Blix told the newspaper more time should have given for UN inspectors to complete their work.
