Blix: Iraq is Disarming

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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The UN weapons inspectors have now officially stated that Iraq is making good progress in disarming. The Inspections MUST now be allowed to continue without BLATANT interferance from the Bush Administration. Almost the entire worlds population strongly reject war against Iraq and favour a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Thank goodness for the Franco-German-Russian resolve to postpone any military action and their desire for diplomacy to achieve a peaceful settlement to the crisis. :k:

BLIX: IRAQ IS DISARMING](http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12705151&method=full&siteid=50143) Mirror News

Mar 5 2003 By Ben Rankin

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix tonight declared that Saddam Hussein was making “greater efforts” to disarm. He described the destruction of Iraq’s banned Al Samoud 2 missiles as “real disarmament”. “Here weapons that can be used in war are being destroyed in fairly large quantities,” Dr Blix told a news conference in New York.

Iraq was also co-operating with weapons inspectors better and seven scientists had agreed to private interviews under the terms of the UN, he said. Previously, scientists had either been questioned in the presence of Iraqi government officials or had tape recorded the interviews.

And he said that efforts were under way to verify Iraqi claims to have destroyed chemical and biological weapons following the 1991 Gulf War through analysis of soil samples.“The Iraqis are taking quite a lot of steps in this direction. There are greater efforts being made,” he said. Dr Blix is due before the UN Security Council on Friday to report on the progress Iraq is making to disarm.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said today that if Saddam was found to be failing to comply with the demands of the international community a draft resolution authorising war on Iraq would be put to the vote. However Mr Blair’s hopes of a resolution being passed suffered a blow today after France, Russia and Germany staged a joint news conference to say they would not let it through.

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Inspector Blix Sees Iraqi Compliance](http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030305_2084.html) ABC News

Chief U.N. Inspector Blix Sees Iraqi Compliance, Hopes It’s Not Too Late to Avoid War

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UNITED NATIONS March 5 — The Associated Press
The chief U.N. weapons inspector said Wednesday that Iraq was providing “a great deal more of cooperation now” with inspectors under threat of U.S. military action and he hoped it was not too late to avoid war. “If war breaks out, of course, I think that it is a serious failure for the approach through inspection to disarmament,” Blix said two days before delivering an important update on Iraq’s cooperation to the U.N. Security Council. Blix said he would welcome the continuation of inspections and mapped out plans into the summer, but he reiterated he will not ask the council to let his teams continue their work.

For many of the 15 council members, a key ingredient in deciding whether to vote for a U.S.-backed resolution authorizing war against Iraq will be Friday’s reports by Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, the top nuclear watchdog. Blix said in a written report to the council last Friday that Baghdad’s disarmament efforts were “very limited so far,” but he painted a more positive picture at a Wednesday news conference.

The dismantling of some of Iraq’s Al Samoud 2 missiles which international experts say exceed a 93-mile range limit set by the council at the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War “is the most spectacular and the most important and tangible,” he said. “Here weapons that can be used in war are being destroyed in fairly large quantities,” Blix said. Blix also highlighted Iraq’s handing over “of some documents that have not been found before” and lists of people who participated in destroying chemical and biological weapons and long-range missiles in 1991.

“You have a greater measure of cooperation on interviews in general,” Blix said, noting that seven scientists have been interviewed privately inside Iraq. Blix also asked an Arab country, which he did not identify, to host inspectors and any Iraqi scientists who agree to be interviewed outside Iraq, but he has not yet received a response.Cyprus is a possible location for interviews and several countries have offered asylum for any scientists wanting to leave Iraq, he added.

Iraq also “took the initiative” to dig up a site where it allegedly neutralized and buried 157 R-400 aerial bombs filled with biological agents in 1991, he said, “and they are showing there are more bombs” than previous inspectors established. Blix said “it’s a pity” Iraq did not step up efforts to cooperate sooner and that a major military buildup was needed to force those efforts. “There is a great deal more of cooperation now. The threat certainly has brought it there. I hope it’s not too late,” he said. Blix said he still plans to present the Security Council later this month with a list of key remaining disarmament tasks that Iraq must answer, a requirement under the December 1999 U.N. resolution establishing his inspection commission.

As a prelude, he will give council members a memo Friday listing 29 “clusters” of issues related to Iraq’s weapons programs that still have outstanding questions, he said. The most important tasks that Iraq must complete will be culled from this list. The chief inspector said some weapons experts were skeptical they could verify Iraq’s claims to have dumped biological materials more than a decade ago by digging in those areas. Nonetheless, he said, they were exploring the idea.

The divided council is being pressured by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to reach a compromise on efforts to strip Saddam Hussein of banned weapons of mass destruction. Annan insists war must be a last resort. Key council powers are polarized over whether Iraq should receive more time to eliminate all such weapons, and they have shown no sign of compromising.

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Don’t think it matters…

BUSH MAKES THE CALL

Exclusive

President Bush on Wednesday night was to make the ultimate call whether to strike and invade Iraq with military force, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

A top White House source offered few details, but did reveal the president would make a “defining decision” by morning.

The news comes just hours after Bush discussed top secret battle plans at the White House with his national security team and Army Gen. Tommy Franks, the man who would lead American forces in Iraq.

Developing…

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As expected…

Blix praises Iraq co-operation, BBC, 7 March 2003

Iraq has accelerated its co-operation with United Nations weapons inspectors since the end of January, chief inspector Hans Blix has said. However, he added that such co-operation could not be described as “immediate compliance” - as required by resolution 1441, passed late last year by the Security Council. Mr Blix said it would take months to verify whether Iraq had complied fully with its disarmament obligations.

“It will not take years, nor weeks but months,” he told the UN Security Council.

Mr Blix’s verdict was heard by a Security Council split on whether to endorse a new resolution authorising military action - and is likely to be interpreted in different ways by the opposing sides. Opponents of a US-led war against Iraq - in particular, France and Russia - are likely to seize on Mr Blix’s argument that Iraq is complying with inspections. The US and UK are likely to seize upon any examples of Iraqi non-compliance with previous resolutions as justification for such action.

**Mr Blix said inspectors had been able to conduct operations throughout Iraq with relative ease. He also said there was no evidence to support US claims that Iraq was hiding biological and chemical weapons in mobile laboratories and underground shelters.

But he added that Iraq had failed to provide sufficient documentary information about weapons it claimed to have destroyed, and that interviews with Iraqi scientists appeared to have been subject to “outside pressure”**.

Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is also submitting a report to the Security Council. On the eve of the report, President George W Bush emphatically set out the US agenda for the discussions. In a rare televised press briefing, he said: “The world needs him to answer a single question - has the Iraqi regime fully and unconditionally disarmed as required by Resolution 1441 or has it not?” He said the US would call for a new UN vote to pave the way for military action, whatever the level of support in the Security Council - but warned that the US was in the final stages of diplomacy.

Britain has suggested amendments to a draft text to give Iraq a deadline of a few days before military action is launched. The move is intended to win the support of at least nine Security Council votes - including those of the remaining veto-wielding opponents: Russia, China and France.

They have called for continued and reinforced UN inspections as an alternative to armed conflict.

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Excellent News. :k:

Blix: Iraq Actively Cooperating to Disarm](Newsday | Long Island's & NYC's News Source - Newsday) Newsday March 7, 2003

UNITED NATIONS – In a key report before the U.N. Security Council, chief weapons inspector Hans Blix on Friday said Iraq’s destruction of its Al Samoud 2 missiles constitutes a “substantial measure of disarmament.” His counterpart, nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei, made his strongest statement yet in support of Iraqi cooperation.

Blix noted that Iraq is now providing inspectors with pro-active cooperation, something he had asked for repeatedly through the winter. “The destruction undertaken constitutes a substantial measure of disarmament,” Blix said. “We are not watching the destruction of toothpicks. Lethal weapons are being destroyed.”

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This latest report is another blow to the US-UK’s fast collapsing credibility over the Iraq situation, which left Powell looking stony faced and agitated. The international community i.e. the UNSC authorised the inspectors to go to Iraq and report back on their progress and give recomendations. Those UN inspectors are saying that Iraq is disarming and destroying lethal weapons, and that inpections must go on for some more months.

So why are the US-UK so eager to ignore the evidence and findings of the UN and wage an illegal war without UN backing?

Blix wants months - and Straw offers 10 days](Blix wants months - and Straw offers 10 days | World news | The Guardian)

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Malik73: *
This latest report is another blow to the US-UK's fast collapsing credibility

[/QUOTE]

US/UK and credibility are two opposite ends of the spectrum....

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Blix Marches on With Inspections Plan](http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/5407747.htm) Kansas City News

Associated Press 16 Mar 03

UNITED NATIONS - As President Bush pushed the United Nations to the wall Sunday, France and its allies were undeterred, insisting Iraq should have more time to disarm. U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix was preparing a plan that would prolong inspections for several more months. After meeting with the leaders of Britain and Spain - his top allies in seeking military action - Bush said that Monday would be “a moment of truth for the world” and urged other nations to support “the immediate and unconditional disarmament” of Saddam Hussein.

But diplomats said it was not immediately clear what the United States, Britain and Spain wanted from the Security Council on Monday. Washington could call for a vote on a resolution that would set an ultimatum for Iraq to disarm within days or face war. The current resolution would set the deadline for Monday, but U.S. officials said that could be extended briefly. The United States also could abandon the initiative. The resolution doesn’t have the support of a majority of the 15 council members and faces a threatened veto by France, and possibly Russia.

U.S. and British diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were doubtful their resolution would be put to a vote Monday. France, unmoved by the summit, planned to push ahead with its proposal, a 30-day timetable for Iraq to meet disarmament tasks to be set by Blix. The plan doesn’t include an ultimatum. At the emergency summit in the Azores Islands Sunday, Bush made no commitment to call a vote, change the deadline or withdraw the resolution. Bush said last week he would seek a council vote even if it appeared doomed to defeat.

Under U.N. rules, the United States and Britain must give a 24-hour notice before calling a Security Council vote. The Security Council was to meet Monday to discuss the proposal by France, Germany and Russia calling for more time for inspections. The council meeting was announced while Bush and his allies were conferring and seemed designed to counter any announcement they could have made out of the summit. Vice President Dick Cheney dismissed the French proposal, saying “it’s difficult to take the French serious.”

After listening to the news conference in the Azores, Blix described the situation as “very threatening,” but he made no plans to evacuate his weapons inspectors in Baghdad. Instead, he said he would push forward with a 30-page work program and a list of key remaining disarmament tasks he wants Iraq to complete. According to U.N. officials familiar with working drafts of Blix’s report, the inspector is developing a program that envisions several more months of inspections, followed by a transition period to long-term monitoring of Iraq’s weapons programs.

With the prospect of military action looming, the chief inspector was also considering an invitation to visit Baghdad. “I don’t exclude it but there are many other things that are happening in the world. … We need a little more clarity.” Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri said the invitation was aimed at fostering more cooperation with inspectors. But Secretary of State Colin Powell doubted such a trip could produce results.

Speaking on CNN’s Late Edition, Powell said the remaining tasks Blix planned to identify were issues the “Iraqis could have resolved any time over the past five, 10, 12 years, and they have not. That’s the problem.”
After the U.S-backed resolution setting an ultimatum appeared to fail last week, many at the United Nations have already declared the diplomatic process dead and believe Bush will issue his own ultimatum to Iraq on Monday.

But France, Russia and Germany, whose influential voices helped block the U.S.-backed resolution, still publicly pushed for an alternative to war. The trio issued a joint statement over the weekend calling for more time for inspectors. Germany, however, objected to French President Jacques Chirac’s 30-day timetable, saying inspectors should have all the time they want. French diplomats in New York said their foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, was planning to attend a Blix briefing Tuesday and may be joined in the Security Council by his German and Russian counterparts. Foreign ministers have attended four such Security Council meetings this year, a high-level display that was rare before the current Iraq crisis.

In November, the council unanimously passed Resolution 1441 to beef up inspections and issue Saddam a final opportunity to disarm and cooperate or face serious consequences. The United States, Britain and Spain believe Saddam failed to use that chance to disarm peacefully. But France, Russia, Germany and many others on the council believe inspections, which according to Blix have produced some results and cooperation in the past four months, should continue.

In an interview published Sunday in the French weekly Journal du Dimanche, de Villepin said the proposal - and others designed to speed up the peaceful disarmament of Iraq - were being stonewalled by the U.S. military’s inflexible timetable for an invasion of Iraq. Military experts had said that February would have provided optimal weather conditions for battle in Iraq. The first half of March has brought sandstorms and the beginnings of stifling summer heat to the Persian Gulf region, where hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops are awaiting orders.

Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair say they already have the authority they need to wage war in Iraq. But U.N. backing would lend international legitimacy to their actions and ensure that the world body share the costs of reconstruction in a post-war Iraq. More importantly, a U.N. resolution would make it easier to build a coalition of countries willing to disarm Saddam by force. On Sunday, Belgium said it would deny the United States use of its territory for military transports if Washington acts without the United Nations.

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I think it is very important that Hans Blix and the UN inspectors carry on thier work to the very last moment before war, and that they continue to report to the UN as usual. Then the world community and peoples can see that the UN is continuing it’s work with Iraq which is being pro-active as Blix said yesterday, and that the only one’s who are wanting war in defiance of all this is the US-UK.

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Sad Blix says he wanted more time for inspections, Gary Younge
The Guardian, 20 March 2003

The UN chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, yesterday expressed sadness that he had not been allowed more time to complete his work, as foreign ministers from France, Germany and Russia condemned the US and British rush to war.

“I naturally feel sadness that 3 months of work carried out in Iraq have not brought the assurances needed about the absence of weapons of mass destruction or other proscribed items in Iraq,” Mr Blix told the security council.

At a prearranged presentation of his work schedule of disarmament tasks, Mr Blix went on to express his regret “that no more time is available for our inspections”.

Mr Blix, who has studiously avoided taking sides over the past few months as the security council became increasingly riven, remained supportive but sceptical of Iraq’s moves to cooperate.

“The value of this information thus provided must be soberly judged,” he said.

“Our experts have found so far that in substance only limited new information has been provided that will help to resolve remaining questions.”

But he has become increasingly vocal in his criticism of the coalition’s impatience for military action now that war appears inevitable.

“I do not think it is reasonable to close the door on inspections after 3 months,” Mr Blix said on Tuesday, arguing that Iraq was providing more cooperation than it had in more than 10 years.

“I would have welcomed more time.”

He also expressed relief yesterday that he was able to withdraw all UN staff with Iraqi cooperation, given fears that they might be taken hostage. Iraqi assistance, he said on Tuesday, suggested a degree of goodwill and that he believed a forthcoming invasion would be met with relative restraint.

Mr Blix believes Iraq is technologically capable of developing chemical and biological weapons capable of striking US targets. But he doubted Saddam Hussein’s regime would take any action that would build support for America.

Meanwhile, the diplomatic acrimony provoked by the American, British and Spanish decision to bypass the security council and declare war without UN support persisted.

The French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, told the council that war would exacerbate terrorism in the Middle East.

“To those who think that the scourge of terrorism will be eradicated through what is done in Iraq, we say that they run the risk of failing in their objective,” he said.

“An outbreak of force in such an unstable area can only exacerbate the tensions and fractures on which terrorists feed.”

The German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, said: “We have to state clearly under the current circumstance that the policy of military intervention has no credibility. There is no basis in the UN charter for a regime change with military means.”

His Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov, said no UN security council resolution authorised the use of force against Iraq outside the UN charter, and “not one of them authorises the violent overthrow of the leadership of a sovereign state”.

He said if there were a great threat to the security of the US “then Russia, without any hesitation would use all the means available provided under the UN charter to eliminate such a threat”.

“However, the security council today is not in possession of such facts,” he said, in a reference to the Bush administration’s linkage of terrorism to the Iraqi government.

While the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Syria, Guinea and Russia attended the meeting, their British and American colleagues stayed away.

The US effectively declared the meeting irrelevant. But behind the scenes the two sides attempted to restore cooperation, shifting their attention to the humanitarian work that would have to be undertaken after the war ended.

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"Blix: Iraq is Disarming"

Finally, he is making some sense.

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i am glad to see that you agree with him, Seminole.

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I just wish Iraq had done it by themselves so this war would have been avoidable.

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They were disarming, as the IAEA and Hans Blix have repeatedly asserted.

It's interesting that, each time the weapons inspectors have come to Iraq, both times they have had to leave the country and stop their disarmament work - NOT because of Saddam Hussein, but because the US was going to bomb Iraq (remember Clinton's bombing in 1998 and now this time again in 2003). Funny that it's been the US, and not any other country, that has been responsible for stopping the process of Iraq's disarmament.

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Funny that it's been the US, and not any other country, that has been responsible for stopping the process of Iraq's disarmament.

Now that's a classic! How can you blame Iraq's continued posession of illegal weapons on the US? If Iraq were disarming, there would be no process for the US to stop. Nadia, an occassional stab at objectivitiy on this subject would make your arguments more valid. Can you ever apply some blame or condemnation to this government? It would not invalidate your anti-war position, but it would make it a lot easier for others to sympathize with your position.

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Nadia, an occassional stab at objectivitiy on this subject would make your arguments more valid. Can you ever apply some blame or condemnation to this government?
Seminole, i understand your frustration with my comments. i have, on numerous occasions, stated that i have never supported - nor will i ever - any form of government that is dictatorial in nature. Period.

As to my original comments that Iraq was in the process of substantial cooperation and disarmament - i stand by that as firm as ever.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Nadia_H: *As to my original comments that Iraq was in the process of substantial cooperation and disarmament - i stand by that as firm as ever.
[/QUOTE]

I guess their method of disarming the Scuds they didn't have was to shoot them at Kuwait.

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myvoice,

Would love to see some pictures of the scuds shot down...obviously with the 1991 date airbrushed out.

Love Thap.

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^ Thap :smiley: yaar your comments crack me up. :k:

MyVoice, i think that’s called self-defence. Believe it or not, despite the efforts of some, Iraq is from a technical point of view still a sovereign country - according to the UN Charter, when you are in the middle of being attacked by another state, you have a right to defend your country. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the latter possessed all the right to defend itself. The right of self-defence belongs to all, not just to US allies.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Thap: *
myvoice,

Would love to see some pictures of the scuds shot down...obviously with the 1991 date airbrushed out.

Love Thap.
[/QUOTE]

Just look in the incubators. Move the dead babies aside and you will find the Scud pieces.

Love, MV