Posted on 10/25/2006 8:25:46 AM PDT by pissant
The war in Iraq is a "pure failure" that has left Iraqis in a worse state than when they lived under Saddam Hussein, former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said in comments published Wednesday.
"Iraq is a pure failure," Blix was quoted as saying in the Danish newspaper Politiken.
"If the Americans pull out, there is a risk that they will leave a country in civil war. At the same time it doesn't seem that the United States can help to stabilize the situation by staying there."
Blix, in comments that were seen as unusually critical for the diplomat, said the U.S. is facing a situation where neither staying to fight nor pulling its troops out of Iraq are good decisions.
Blix said Iraq would have been better off if the war had not happened.
"Saddam would still have been sitting in office. OK, that is negative and it would not have been joyful for the Iraqi people. But what we have gotten is undoubtedly worse," he was quoted as saying.
Blix was in charge of a team of UN inspectors who looked for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the U.S. and its allies invaded the country in 2003. He had asked for more time to allow the weapons inspectors to do their work, but was criticized by Washington for his request.
After his team left Iraq, a coalition of forces led by the U.S. invaded the country. The U.S. and British military forces found no weapons of mass destruction.
Violence in the country is escalating, meanwhile, with Iraqi civilians, government officials, police officers and often U.S. soldiers killed every day. Bodies are frequently found in Baghdad, bound and tortured. Bombings are common.
According to Iraq Body Count, a website that tracks reported deaths of Iraqi civilians, more than 44,000 Iraqis have died in the war.
Hans Brix? I thought he was still looking for the 2-gallon milk jug in his refrigerator.
Wasn't the funniest scene in Team America when Kim Jong throws Hans Blix into the shark tank?
Lord help me, but I would really just like to punch this guy in the face.
Have not seen it yet, but I need to rent it soon!
"You're bweaking my bawls Hans Brix."
You are being kinder than I.
Let's see, the pop star who got everyone mad about smarting off about planes hitting the White House is a Swede (look up "Swede" in search) and 'ol Hans is a Swede. Anything really smart coming out of Sweden lately?
A header into a shredder?
A rampage in a rape room?
A dash into the desert where a bullet to the occipetal is waiting?
All of the above? (not possible)
Hans Limp Blix strikes again!
The man is an educated idiot!
Sweden just elected a right of center gov't, I think. So maybe there is some glimmer of hope. Then again, Chirac is the head of the "conservative" party in france *groan*
I vote shredder for Hans
Shitcan the UN NOW.
"Iraqis better off under Saddam, says former weapons inspector," except for the million or so Saddam killed, gassed, tortured and/or burned to death. How nice of Hans to show his true colors, even if it is a little late in the game.
All in favor say Yeah!
Because Muslims prefer to be terrorized by their government?
Well, sure. Except for those pesky 300,000+ who were shot, dismembered, burnt alive, tortured by having holes drilled into their brains or fed through a chipper shredder, then...life WAS pretty good!
Unless you were fed to the lions. then it sucked, probably.
In the news again, I just need to be in the news again...
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