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Iraq invaded on 'shaky' grounds
24/06/2003 10:00 - (SA)
New York - While weapons of mass destruction may yet be unearthed in Iraq, chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix said on Monday the United States had jumped to conclusions on the basis of "shaky" evidence.
"I don't exclude that the US inspectors... may find something. It is possible," he told the Council for Foreign Relations in New York.
"But, it is somewhat puzzling, I think, that you can have 100% certainty about the weapons of mass destruction and zero certainty about where they are."
A former Swedish foreign minister, Blix will stand down at the end of the month after more than three years as chairman of the UN monitoring, verification and inspection commission (Unmovic).
In the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq on March 20, Blix frustrated Pentagon officials with his cautious inspection reports to the UN security council.
He repeatedly noted that no evidence had been found to prove that Iraq retained or had resumed production of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons - a theme he returned to on Monday.
Iron-clad conclusions
Blix emphasised that the evidence for the existence of such weapons was "never more than shaky" - including the potentially self-serving testimony of defectors and the ambiguous results of inspections of suspected mobile laboratories.
He particularly questioned how countries like the United States and Britain appeared to reach iron-clad conclusions from the intelligence on offer.
"Again there was this strong affirmation... a jumping at conclusions. While we were much more prudent."
Arguing that Unmovic was not given enough time to complete its inspections before the invasion, Blix suggested there was some irony in the fact that the United States was now calling for patience while it completed its own search for the suspected weapons.
Set up in December 1999, Unmovic was unable to work in Iraq until late November last year, as the regime of Saddam Hussein buckled to the mounting threat of US military action.
Although they were able to complete only 15 weeks of inspections before having to withdraw on the eve of the invasion, the UN team carried out 731 inspections at 411 sites suspected of containing chemical or biological weapons.
- AFX
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