By KATHARINE A. SCHMIDT, Associated Press Writer
HEIDELBERG, Germany - The former top U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq called President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair "salesmen" Sunday for their handling of information in the lead-up to war.
Hans Blix criticized the two leaders for attacking Iraq even though his U.N. inspection teams made no significant finds in their search for Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction — the main justification for the U.S.-led invasion.
"We as voters in a democracy expect critical thinking, and that politicians be very precise in the question of starting a war," Blix said in a speech to 500 members of the American-European Friendship Club in Heidelberg.
"To an extent I see them as salesmen." he said, referring to Bush and Blair.
The weapons expert also sharply criticized Washington for using what he called inaccurate intelligence concerning an alleged deal between Iraq and Niger to bolster Baghdad's nuclear capability, calling it "scandalous."
In his 2003 State of the Union address, Bush had asserted that Iraq was trying to obtain raw uranium in Africa, based on a report that has since been discredited.
Blix, 75, who headed the U.N. inspectors from 2000 to mid-2003 noted that no hidden weapons had been found in Iraq since 1991, but he did not rule out that a minor cache of weapons might yet be exposed.
He also addressed former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay's statement that Iraq was developing weapons programs shortly before the war. Although U.N. inspectors found no evidence of such programs, Blix said Iraqis could have restarted them based on their prior knowledge.