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Blix: Iraq war stimulated world terrorism
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-14 09:26
Former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said Wednesday the U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq had failed tragically in its aim of making the world a safer
place and succeeded only in stimulating terrorism.
Blix, in implicit criticism of the main protagonists President Bush and
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said the action had also failed to deter any
ambitions on the part of Iran or North Korea to develop nuclear weapons.
"The acknowledged gain of the war was that a treacherous and murderous
dictator (Saddam Hussein was removed, but the rest has been tragedy and
failure," he told Reuters in an interview. "It has stimulated terrorism."
Many critics of the invasion argue it opened Iraq to Islamist militants
involved in an insurrection against coalition forces, while distracting
attention from a campaign against the al-Qaeda group blamed for September, 2001
attacks on the United States.
"Is the world safer? No. It's not safer in Iraq," he said in his native
Stockholm. "If North Korea and Iran are contemplating going for weapons of mass
destruction, then it hasn't stopped them. It has not solved the Middle East
conflict."
Blix suggested Washington and London had lost perspective in focusing on
Saddam who, it has since emerged, was not involved in developing nuclear arms.
"Of course they were concerned with North Korea and Iran. But...they focused
a great deal of their efforts on Iraq while other things were left simmering."
Iran denies U.S. accusations it is developing nuclear arms. Experts say North
Korea has an arsenal of between two and nine nuclear bombs.
Blix, who retired from the UN last year and now chairs a Swedish-sponsored
Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, also cast doubt on the Iraqi
government's comments Tuesday that UN weapons inspectors were welcome to return.
"The Iraqi government would need to offer guarantees of safety," said the
75-year-old former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who led the
UN inspections team until 2003. "But to go to sites which satellites have
already found to be empty is perhaps not meaningful."
Iraqi Science and Technology Minister Rashad Omar issued the invitation after
an IAEA report Monday said neither Baghdad nor Washington appeared to have
noticed the disappearance of nuclear equipment and materials once closely
monitored by IAEA.
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