Posted on 11/06/2004 9:04:02 AM PST by NormsRevenge
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Moving to quell tensions with the United States, the head of the U.N nuclear watchdog agency said Friday his recent comments on the invasion of Iraq were misinterpreted, and he had a "close working relationship" with the American administration.
"It's unfortunate that people try to put the wrong spin on a very important issue," Mohamed ElBaradei told The Associated Press, alluding to what he said was adverse U.S. reaction to his Thursday speech at Stanford University.
At the school, ElBaradei said the Iraq experience demonstrated "that we need to exercise maximum restraint before resorting to military force" and suggested that the U.S.-led invasion was unnecessary because U.N. "inspections were working" to establish whether Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
The March 2003 invasion was based on assertions that Saddam had nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. No such weapons have been found.
In his speech, ElBaradei, director general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said the U.S. occupation of Iraq had cost America and the United Nations credibility while doing little for ordinary Iraqis.
He also criticized the way the Bush administration handled nuclear weapons issues, saying it pursued a "good guys versus bad guys" approach that encouraged proliferation.
But ElBaradei denied Friday that his statements were "meant to criticize any particular government or person." Rather, they were an attempt to summarize "lessons to all that could be helpful in the future," he said.
"In war or peace we all lose, if we don't agree," he said in a telephone interview from California. "The U.N. was hurting, the (U.S.-led) coalition was hurting because of the lack of agreement" on what to do about Iraq.
He said the IAEA had a "close relationship with the Bush administration to curb proliferation and nuclear terrorism. But we do sometimes have differences of views on how to go about it."
U.S. officials recently accused ElBaradei of trying to sabotage Bush's re-election by what they said were agency leaks about the looting of hundreds of tons of high explosives in Iraq.
ElBaradei's office denied any involvement in the revelations.
In his speech, ElBaradei said the United States and U.N. Security Council used double standards in enforcing nuclear weapons inspections, an approach that has encouraged nations to build weapons secretly.
He said the council had "little to no response" as North Korea built nuclear arms.
He also said the arms race could be slowed if the United States and its allies implemented the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which would halt all nuclear weapons testing. He suggested renegotiating the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to stop countries from developing the capabilities for enriching uranium.
No 3rd term for this EUrowabian weinie.
looks like the breadline for you FOOL
He says he offered these comments to serve as a lesson for all.
Tell that to the FRee Iraqis fighting for their lives today against terrorists and 'insurgents', many of them supported by the bulk of the members of the UN.
Some lesson, el DUhhhhmbo.
shove your effn lessons you anti-american un scum
Mohamed ElBaradei
This jerk is incompetent.
He needs to go SOONEST.
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