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Ex-chief weapons inspector slams Iraq war as 'tragedy' ('Ignorance is Blix' Alert!)
AFP on Yahoo ^ | 3/19/08 | AFP

Posted on 03/19/2008 10:18:21 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

LONDON (AFP) - Hans Blix, the former chief UN weapons inspector, slammed the Iraq war as a "tragedy" and blamed it on leaders ignoring the facts, in a comment piece published Thursday.

Writing in The Guardian on the five-year anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, Blix, who clashed with Washington in the run-up to the Iraq war, described the war as "a tragedy -- for Iraq, for the US, for the UN, for truth and human dignity."

In the sub-headline to the comment piece, Blix, who headed the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, wrote that responsibility for the war "must lie with those who ignored the facts five years ago".

At the time of the Iraq war, Blix accused the US and Britain of exaggerating the threat from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's alleged "weapons of mass destruction" -- traces of which have never been found.

In his comment piece, he said the war was a "setback in the world's efforts to develop legal restraints on the use of armed force between states" and added that in 2003, "Iraq was not a real or imminent threat to anybody."

Blix wrote that had coalition troops not deposed Saddam, "he would, in all likelihood, have become another Kadhafi or Castro; an oppressor of his own people but no longer a threat to the world."

He said that one positive sign to emerge from the conflict was that "it may be that the spectacular failure of ensuring disarmament by force, and of introducing democracy by occupation, will work in favour of a greater use of diplomacy and 'soft power'."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: blix; iraq; tragedy; weaponsinspector
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To: baa39
Blix? Doesn’t this guy realize he is already on the ash heap of history?

I could have sworn that he was eaten by sharks!

Mark

41 posted on 03/20/2008 5:24:54 AM PDT by MarkL
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To: hsalaw
Oh damn, and I thought that I was being original and witty in my response to #2... Oh well, strike the "original" part!

Mark

42 posted on 03/20/2008 5:26:12 AM PDT by MarkL
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To: LanaTurnerOverdrive

Why should you care about fairness for a man like Blix who hates the USA. He ought to be sent to the afterlife by an undercover agent.


43 posted on 03/20/2008 6:00:55 AM PDT by ohioman
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To: dighton; NormsRevenge; Billthedrill; Constitution Day; Petronski; BlueLancer; Larry Lucido
Blix couldn't find a WMD if ya put it in a suppository and crammed it up his you know what.

Q. What's the Italian word for "suppository".

A. "Innuendo"

(It helps if you say it out loud.)

44 posted on 03/20/2008 7:42:50 AM PDT by aculeus
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