Hans Blix

Hans Blix Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs 1978–79, Director General of the IAEA 1981–97, Executive Chairman of the UNMOVIC 2000–03.

Sourced

• It was to do with information management. The intention was to dramatise it.
  • BBC TV's Breakfast With Frost, February 8, 2004

• I found it peculiar that those who wanted to take military action could — with 100 per cent certainty — know that the weapons existed and turn out to have zero knowledge of where they were.
  • from an unnamed Swedish radio program, quoted in Mirror.co.uk, "Blix Blasts 'Illegal' US War on Iraq", August 7, 2003 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13263825_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-BLIX-BLASTS--ILLEGAL--US-WAR-ON-IRAQ-name_page.html

• I have my detractors in Washington. There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who planted nasty things in the media.
  • The Guardian, "Blix: I was smeared by the Pentagon" June 11, 2003 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,974998,00.html

• … there are people in this administration who say they don't care if the UN sinks under the East river, and other crude things…
  • The Guardian, ibid.

• It's true the Iraqis misbehaved and had no credibility but that doesn't necessarily mean that they were in the wrong.
  • The Guardian, "One last warning from the man who made an enemy of Bush", June 11, 2003 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,974970,00.html

• But in the Middle Ages people were convinced there were witches. They looked for them and they certainly found them.
  • BBC News, "Blix criticises UK's Iraq dossier", September 18, 2003 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3118462.stm
  • referring to the British and American governments' insistence that there are WMD in Iraq after Blix had already concluded and reported there was nothing to be found

• There was a very consistent creation of a virtual reality, and eventually it collided with our old-fashioned, ordinary reality.
  • On the U.S. attitude regarding alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction as a justification for U.S. military action, as quoted widely in the media including the Boston Globe article "Newsview: U.S. reports no weapons in Iraq", September 18, 2004 http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2004/09/18/us_leaks_report_of_no_weapons_in_iraq?mode=PF

Quotes of others about Blix

• Personally, Mr. Blix is amiable and has a sense of humor; politically he is weak and easily fooled. I can think of few European officials less suitable for a showdown with Saddam. Indeed, it is with utter disbelief that I watch television news about Mr. Blix's negotiations with the Iraqi dictator's henchmen. [...] Regardless of how this crisis develops from this point, the United Nations has neglected its duties by asking a wimp to lead the inspectors who are supposed to stand up to the brute of Baghdad.
  • Per Ahlmark, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden (Liberal Party), in The Washington Times, November 1, 2002. http://web.archive.org/web/20030412193910/http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20021101-47209425.htm

• "He's as reliable as a Volvo." Colin Powell