Hans Blix interview

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg at tin.it>]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,974969,00.html

One last warning from the man who made an enemy of Bush

UN weapons inspector says Iraqi guilt is still not proven

Helena Smith in New York
Wednesday June 11, 2003
The Guardian

It is, even by the standards of understatement for which Hans Blix is now
renowned, "something special". It stands where he can see it best - opposite
his desk on the 31st floor of the United Nations: a cartoon depicting the
balding Swede as a stick of dynamite with President George Bush demonically
waving a match over his head.
Given that the drawing also shows Mr Blix delivering one of his equally
combustible reports to the UN security council in the run-up to the US-led
war against Iraq, the joke is hard to miss. "Have you seen this?" he asks,
trying not to chuckle. "It was given to me by my friends in British
intelligence. I think it's great."
That the droll chief weapons inspector should draw attention to the cartoon
says more about his mood, 20 days before he leaves the post, than anything
else. The almost other-worldly New York view that he has feasted on since
being pulled out of retirement for the thankless task of heading the United
Nations monitoring, verification and inspection commission (Unmovic) is
"nice, yes". But, like his fastidiously neat office, he says: "I won't be
missing it."
The job has not been that stressful, he says. "It's just that it occupies
you entirely. You don't do much else. There's been an advantage to having an
old gentleman, like me, with no family around to do it."
It will be with a sense of relief that the genial Mr Blix, 75 this month,
returns to the Stockholm apartment he shares with his wife Eva, a former
ambassador. "I like New York," he says. "My apartment also has a spectacular
view over Manhattan and that has been a blessing. But I also like oriental
antique rugs, the theatre, and Eva and I both love cooking."
He sighs wistfully. "My work at the IAEA [International Atomic Energy
Agency, which he headed for 16 years] was absorbing, but it's not the only
thing in the world, is it?"
Mr Blix never sought fame. When it came, in the form of a telephone plea
from Kofi Annan three years ago, the lifelong civil servant accepted out of
a sense of duty. "We were in Patagonia holidaying at the time and I was
waiting in line for a bus to take us to the airport when a travel agent came
asking for a Mr Blix. She said a Mr Kofi had phoned."
Mr Blix certainly didn't need to accept the job for financial gain. Instead,
he agreed to take it for a limited period because there was no one else who
was acceptable to Iraq and the west. But with the post came state-sanctioned
sniping from both camps. Before he had set foot in Baghdad, Mr Blix was
being accused of ineptitude and inefficacy by detractors in Washington who
loathed him for being a Clinton appointee.
There were "enemies" dating from his days as a liberal student leader at
Uppsala University; enemies in the form of disgruntled ex-employees closely
connected to hawks in the US Pentagon; Iraqi enemies who spread rumours
about his being "homosexual, and going to Washington to pick up my
instructions every two weeks".
There were even media jibes about his talent for inspection lying
exclusively with menus at fancy East Side restaurants. But the accusations
of "softness", levelled more often than not by senior American officials,
were most galling.
"They would say I was too compliant with the Iraqis when in reality [they
meant] I was not compliant enough with what the US wanted. I have never
criticised the US or UK for lack of sincerity." Mr Blix tried to focus on
the reports for his bosses at the UN security council, pointing out that
they were always "happy" with him. Even now, he refuses to be explicitly
drawn on just what he feels, insisting he is not "frustrated, bitter or
betrayed".
But, despite his apparent equanimity, he cannot conceal his anger at the
constant vilification by "bastards" who "planted nasty things in the media".
"Not that I cared very much," he insists. "It was a bit like a mosquito bite
in the evening that is still there in the morning, an irritant."
What riles him most is that Iraq was not disarmed peacefully. He cups his
head in his hands. "The lowest point was at the end when we realised it was
not going to happen. That was very disappointing. The war cost a lot in
destruction and lives."
As to whether Iraq still harbours weapons of mass destruction (WMD), he says
he "remains agnostic". Only time will tell - although that is passing by
"quite fast and instead of talking about [finding] WMD they're talking about
the programmes.
"We know for sure that they did exist ... and we cannot exclude they may
find something," he says. "I was always more prudent in my approach. I am a
lawyer ... in a court things should be beyond reasonable doubt.
"It's true the Iraqis misbehaved and had no credibility but that doesn't
necessarily mean that they were in the wrong. It could have been bad
brinkmanship. Saddam could have misjudged and read about the demonstrations
in London, Paris, here and thought they won't dare to go after me."
Mr Blix is worried about the future, expressing "nervousness" at the US
adminstration's belief in pre-emptive strikes. "Obviously it raises the need
for solid evidence and quality intelligence," he says, adding that
intelligence material was treated in "a lighthearted way" by the US and
Britain.
He insists the UN has a role, despite it being seen as an "alien power" by
some within the US administration who "would not care if it sinks into the
East river".
So does he feel that it was worth the personal pain, that he was effective?
"Oh yes," he says without hesitation. "We proved beyond a doubt and under
immense pressure that independent, impartial, objective monitoring can be
achieved. We were in nobody's pocket. Every day I get letters from
inspectors who would like to work again. We're immensely proud of what
Unmovic achieved."
The CV
Hans Martin Blix
Born June 28 1928, Uppsala, Sweden
Family Married with two sons
Education Uppsala University, Cambridge University, Columbia University, New
York, University of Stockholm
Career Assistant professor of international law, University of Stockholm
1960-63; legal consultant on international law, foreign ministry 1963-76;
under-secretary of state for international development cooperation, 1976-78,
1979-81; minister for foreign affairs 1978-79; director general,
International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1981-97 Member: Swedish
delegation to UN general assembly 1961-81; delegation to conference on
disarmament, Geneva 1962-78 Executive chairman, UN monitoring, verification
and inspection committee for Iraq, 2000- ; honorary chairman, World Nuclear
Association
High point Getting UN weapons inspectors back into Iraq last year
Low point As director of the IAEA claiming Iraq had no nuclear programme,
only to be proved wrong after the first Gulf war