Blix Dismisses Blair's Weapons Claim

Ananova ^ | 12-16-2003

[blam]

Blix dismisses Blair's weapons claim

Former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has dismissed claims Saddam Hussein had laboratories for developing weapons of mass destruction.

His comments came as Tony Blair said that the British-American Iraq Survey Group had already uncovered "massive" evidence of a network of secret laboratories.

Mr Blair made the claim in an interview with the British Forces Broadcasting Service.

He said: "I think in any event we have got to carry on the work that we are doing, because contrary to some of the things that appear, the Iraq Survey Group has already found massive evidence of a huge system of clandestine laboratories, workings by scientists, plans to develop long range ballistic missiles," he said.

"Now, frankly, these things weren't being developed unless they were developed for a purpose."

But Dr Blix told the BBC that the ISG, led by David Kay, had failed to produce any concrete evidence that the laboratories they had found were working on WMD.

"I'm talking about the reactions to the David Kay report where he says that 'we have found laboratories' - well that's innuendo that laboratories were for WMD."

Earlier, at the launch in Sweden of a new independent commission on WMD, Dr Blix said it was "increasingly clear" that Saddam had not had any WMD when he was ousted by US and British forces.

Story filed: 20:53 Tuesday 16th December 2003

[dirtboy]

Former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has dismissed claims Saddam Hussein had laboratories for developing weapons of mass destruction.

Hey, Hans, if I were you I'd get right to the bank and cash your latest check from Saddam. And I wouldn't be expecting any more.

[petuniasevan]

What was that phrase we used before Operation Iraqi Freedom...

Oh yeah...

[blanknoone]

I think we really have to start controlling the language....we are no longer looking for WMD. We are looking for more WMD. Uranium enrichment centrifuge, Congo Fever, botulinum toxin, 1,300 km missile deal with N. Korea, hidden labs (that the clueless Swede thinks were for curing cancer) etc.

[piasa]

JANUARY 2003 mid : (IRAQ, UN, ONE SCIENTIST SEARCHED HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PAPERS, ANOTHER WAS CAUGHT BY IRAQ TRYING TO ESCAPE, WAS PROBABLY EXECUTED) UNITED NATIONS weapons inspectors in Iraq revealed last night that they had discovered 3,000 documents linked to nuclear arms technology while searching a scientist's house. The documents were recovered from the home of Faleh Hassan, an Iraqi physicist and director of a military installation west of Baghdad. Mohamed El Baradei, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Hassan's papers related to a laser technique for enriching uranium, a component of nuclear weapons. ...* This weekend American intelligence officers were investigating a report that a senior official in Iraq's ministry of industry and military industrialisation, which oversees weapons production, had been killed. He had been trying to flee the country for Jordan with his wife and two children a week ago, but had been stopped. "He was trying to leave with information, but the Mukhabarat [intelligence service] are watching him and all people like him," said an Iraqi source opposed to the regime. "They brought him back to Baghdad. We think he [was] executed." There has been no confirmation of the claim.

[Eva]

This man is so self serving that it's ridiculous. I don't think that this article mentioned that Hans has been hired by this independent, Swedish commission to head a commission on nuclear proliferation which plans to work in conjunction with the UN.

Blix also stated (on FOX) that he didn't think that Saddam had any WMD, that it was just a matter of pride to disclose that he had long ago destroyed the WMDs.

[piasa]

JANUARY 16, 2003 : (UN INSPECTORS FIND WARHEADS DESIGNED TO CARRY CHEMICAL WEAPONS) In their first significant disovery, UN weapons inspectors find 12 warheads designed to carry cheamical weapons. The inspectors believe the warheads were not accounted for in Iraq's 12,000 page submission to the security council. Iraq weapons inspectors find empty chemical warheads - http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/page/0,12438,793802,00.html.(

[piasa]

JANUARY 27, 2003 : (UN WEAPONS INSPECTOR BLIX REPORT ON IRAQ) Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said in his January 27 report that tons of Iraqi chemical and biological agents and precursors were unaccounted for. Over the years, well over half of the precursor materials and a majority of the tools and know-how for their conversion into weapons were sold to Iraq by German firms - both prior to and after the 1991 Gulf War. - "A POLEMIC : Germany's leading role in arming Iraq," By Marc Erikson, Asia Times Online Co, Ltd., Feb 5, 2003

[piasa]

JANUARY 27, 2003 : (UN INSPECTOR BLIX LISTS IRAQ'S WMD ISSUES) This is Blix's own list of WMD's and issues he highlighted, from his speech to the UN on Jan 27th, 2003, written up in the Daily News, UK., same day :


Chemicals:
Some 6,500 chemical bombs containing 1,000 tons of chemical agents and 'several thousand' chemical rocket warheads, known from previous declarations, are unaccounted for. Inspectors found a 'laboratory quantity' of thiodiglycol, a precursor of mustard gas.
Iraq claims it destroyed its stocks of VX gas after it proved to be of poor quality. But the UN says it has evidence that the VX was 'weaponised'.
The discovery of 122mm chemical rockets may be the tip of the iceberg. 'Several thousand' chemical rockets are unaccounted for.
Iraq has repaired equipment at a chemical plant previously destroyed by the UN, supposedly for the production of chlorine and phenols.

Biological weapons:
Iraq claims to have destroyed 8,500 liters of anthrax, but has provided little evidence.
Iraq deliberately omitted to declare 650kg of bacterial growth medium. This could produce 5,000 liters of anthrax.

Missles:
Iraq has supplied Al Samoud 2 and Al Fatah missles - both with ranges exceeding the 150km limit - to it's army. These missiles are 'prima facie cases of proscribed systems'.
Iraq has rebuilt casting chambers, previously destroyed by the UN and possibly used to make missiles with ranges above 150km.
Iraq has imported 380 rocket engines which could be used for the Al Samoud missiles.
Iraq has 'illegally' imported chemicals used in missile propellants, also guidance and control systems.

[Dog]

Notice how quickly the spin began to counter what Blair said today.

[Catspaw]

Hans couldn't find his tush without a map and GPS.

[uglybiker]

That boy couldn't find his Blix with both Hans.

[piasa]

FEBRUARY 9, 2003 : (NORTHERN IRAQ : MUSHIR & 5 OTHERS ASSASSINATED) "Then, on Feb. 9, a prominent secular Kurdish leader, Gen. Shawkat Haji Mushir, and five others were murdered in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq in apparent retaliation for the Powell expose of Ansar and Zarqawi." (A Freeper, Remole, noted: "Remember that the next time someone asks for specific information that proves Iraq's Bio-Chemical weaponry or links between Iraq and Al-Qaeda. Every time the West presents specific information, someone (namely, our intelligence sources) gets killed.")

[piasa]

FEBRUARY 9, 2003 : (NORTHERN IRAQ : MUSHIR ASSASSINATED) Then, on Feb. 9, a prominent secular Kurdish leader, Gen. Shawkat Haji Mushir, and five others were murdered in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq in apparent retaliation for the Powell expose of Ansar and Zarqawi. The modus operandi of the murder was eerily similar to the September 2001 bin Laden-sponsored assassination of Afghan resistance leader, Ahmed Shah Masood, where al Qaeda operatives posing as journalists exploded the TV camcorder in Masood's face. - "Hand in Glove (Iraq and al Qaeda) ," by Mansoor Ijaz, National Review , Feb.18, 2003

[piasa]

FEBRUARY 12 2003 : (UN INSPECTORS ANNOUNCE THEY FOUND IRAQ HAS ILLEGAL MISSILES) The UN weapons inspectors announce they have discovered that Iraq possesses illegal missiles: its Samoud 2 rockets exceed the maximum range of 150km set down in the 1991 Gulf war ceasefire agreement. - UN team finds Iraq has illegal missiles - http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/page/0,12438,793802,00.html

[Fenris6]

Is there a site with detailed WMD violations? Would be nice ammo for the upcoming Dean absurdities....

[arasina]

Anyone wishing to buy a Christmas present for Hans Blix?

He really likes Vanity Fair soft & sheer women's brief panties with lace insets, size 10. Oh, and his favorite color is pink because it makes him look so pretty when he dances around the room and looks in the mirrors. (Don't worry that your purchase will be one too many! His supply has greatly reduced over the past 7 months or so.)

[MizSterious]

Like vermin, they're crawling out of the woodwork today. Scott Ritter was on Court TV this afternoon, lambasting everything we're doing in Iraq.

[piasa]

FEBRUARY 2003 : (BLIX SAYS IRAQ ADMITS IT HAS "FOUND" BOMB WITH BIOLOGICAL WARHEAD THAT HAD NOT BEEN DISARMED) Iraq has admitted it has found a bomb with a possible biological warhead, and a stash of documents on weapons disposal, said Hans Blix, the head of the UN Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic), yesterday. He also described the declarations as "positive", and said they would be investigated further. President Bush dismissed the Iraqi admissions, which came in a series of letters to Mr Blix over the past few days, as token gestures designed to fend off the threat of invasion by giving the appearance of cooperation. The president told journalists he expected to see Saddam Hussein "playing games" with the international community. "He will all of a sudden find a weapon that he claimed he didn't have," Mr Bush said. "I suspect that he will try to fool the world one more time." Iraqi weapons inspectors said they began excavating a weapons dump 100 kilometres south of Baghdad last week, and found it contained the remnants of munitions destroyed in 1991. Mr Blix said he had received a letter in which the Iraqi government "tells us that they have found an R400 bomb containing a liquid in a site which is known to us, at which they did dispose of biological weapons before". The Iraqi government claimed to have destroyed all its biological R400 stockpile in 1991, but as proof it provided only the diary of one officer who recounted the destruction of 157 bombs - 100 filled with botulinum toxin, 50 with anthrax and seven with aflatoxin. Mr Blix said he had not received an official response from Baghdad on his demand that it begin destroying its Samoud missiles. In an interview with the US television network, CBS, to be broadcast today, President Saddam denies the missiles break UN rules, but Mr Blix said the remarks did not represent "an official response to us".- "White House scorns bomb find," byJulian Borger and Suzanne Goldenberg, guardian.co.uk , February 25, 2003

[river rat]

Poor Hans...
He never anticipated that the dumb cowboy from Texas, with his army of trailer trash from upstart America - could ever defeat the powerful Arab armies of Saddam....

He felt safe, that his incompetence would never be proved in public - by FACTS discovered by troops on the ground...

Poor little bastard -- soon the whole world will be forced to acknowledge the incompetence and corruption of the brilliant Hans and the U.N...

F'em all....
U.N. Internationalist?
We don't need no Internationalists,
We don't need no stinkin U.N.....

Semper Fi