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| Nieuwe Oorlog 2003 / Ander Nieuws week 39 |
The Guardian
September 18, 2003Hans Blix, the former UN chief weapons inspector, today accused the British and American governments of spinning intelligence ahead of the Iraq war.
Making reference to the UK's September dossier, over which two intelligence officials have told the Hutton inquiry they expressed concerns, Mr Blix said that information about Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction was "over-interpreted", with "spin" being allowed to infect the presentation of Iraq's military capabilities.
"The UK paper, the document in September last year, with the famous words about 45 minutes, when you read the text exactly, I get the impression it wants to convey - to lead - the reader to conclusions that are a little further-reaching than the text really means," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
"What stands accused is the culture of spin, of hyping. Advertisers will advertise a refrigerator in terms that we don't quite believe in. But we expect governments to be more serious and to have more credibility."
Mr Blix yesterday told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he believed Iraq had destroyed "all, almost" of the weapons of mass destruction it had in its possession at the end of the 1991 Gulf war. He said that Saddam possibly kept up the appearance of having the weapons to deter a military attack.
"I mean, you can put up a sign on a door saying 'beware of the dog' without having a dog," he said from his home in Sweden.
He today told the BBC that the believed the US and UK were convinced Saddam was developing WMDs - and said he considered it "understandable against the background of the man that they did so" - but said there was no conclusive proof of their existence.
"In the middle ages when people were convinced there were witches, when they looked for them, they certainly found them. We were more judicious, we wanted to have the evidence," he said.
He added that it was ironic that the US and UK had not been prepared to give the UN inspection teams the time they needed to complete their work, but those same governments were now insisting that their own inspectors be given sufficient time to complete their own investigations.
He said he did not believe WMDs would be found.
"We have had a number of months, the US and UK have been there, they have had all the possibilities in the world to interview people who are not intimidated and to go anywhere. They have not found anything.
"So I think more and more we are coming to the conclusion that there aren't any. And I think that the Americans and British are also leaning in that direction."
Asked about Dr Blix's comments, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said that they came as no surprise, because he had been making similar observations since the spring.
The spokesman said the most recent assessment of the intelligence on Iraq was carried out by Parliament's intelligence and security committee which, although it made "one or two suggestions", had concluded that last September's government dossier was the best assessment of the intelligence available at the time.
The international survey group would deliver its "on the ground" judgment in due course, he added.
The Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesman, Menzies Campbell, said that Mr Blix's comments had "dealt yet another damaging blow to the British government's case for war".
He demanded full disclosure of the attorney general's opinion advising the government that conflict would be lawful.
"We need to know the factual basis upon which he gave that advice," he said. "In particular, was he aware of the fragile nature of the 45-minute claim, and did he know that the armaments referred to were battlefield weapons and posed no threat to the UK or even to British forces stationed in Cyprus? Full disclosure is required."