Blix shaken by weapons intelligence

Evening Standard (U.K.) ^ | 06/06/03

[lilylangtree]

Blix' credibility is gone. He couldn't find his butt from a hole in the ground.

[tentmaker]

Shaken, but not stirred...

I wonder if it occurred to him that maybe the reason why they didn't find anything was because Iraqi intelligence had penetrated his organization. US intelligence seems to have taken this for granted because of previous similar experiences with UNSCOM, and probably withheld their best for exactly this reason.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Dr Blix made his comments as it emerged that a pre-war Pentagon intelligence report concluded there was "no reliable information" that Iraq had chemical weapons and no firm evidence that it had biological weapons either.

September 10 News headline:

Some analysts say Al-Qaeda does not have the capability to carry out an attack on the US.

[Darksheare]

I wonder if Blix was actually shaken by the ACCURACY of the intel and just how badly we knew he purposefully blew it?

[TheDon]

Blix always tried to confuse the issue of Iraq having WMDs, and Iraq complying with the UN to show they did not have WMDs, or if they did, they were destroying them. The US may have suspected the former, but the latter was unquestionably true. Hence, we overthrew Saddam's gov't.

[SquirrelKing]

WMD's
mass graves
rape rooms
torture chambers
children's prisons
kurdish extermination
murder
brothels
palaces
terrorists

WHAT THE HELL MORE DO THESE PEOPLE NEED?

[boxerblues]

but Blix was and still is willing to go and get paid handsomely for finding these WMD. drop dead Blex

[Howlin]

"I thought - my God, if this is the best intelligence they have and we find nothing, what about the rest?"

SOB; FOS SOB.

[stck]

Stop it people. Blix was just doing his job, and he was doing it quite well actually. It's not his fault those WMDs were nowhere to be found. Tragic, that he took his job too serious. Of course he sounds bitter now.

WMDs may have been the official excuse, the casus belli, but they were NOT the reason we went to war.

To all those who really believed we would find WMDs all over Iraq, naturally with "made in Germany" written all over them: this is the perfect time for a reality check.
There is no point in continuing to bash the Germans, French and whoever didn't believe in those WMDs. They're willing to move on, and so should we. Germans didn't demand an apology for all the nonsense that was spread by some of our most over-eager cheerleaders - and we shouldn't act oh so offended. We have no reason to.

[nathanbedford]

Blix' credibility is gone. He couldn't find his butt from a hole in the ground.

Look, I don't like the Euro - weenie UN crowd any more than anybody else on this thread, but lets not blind ourselves: Blix' credibility has been ENHANCED by our failure to deliver WMDs When America justifies to the world making war largely on the premise that it is saving the world from mass murder it loses credibility when the WMDs are not in the empty sack. I impugn no mendacity to Bush, but I do think we had better get our intelligence house in proper order and pronto. Excoriating Blix while he is being vindicated on the ground does not enhance our credibility.

[mombonn]

I'd like to smack the little weasel.

[mass55th]

"UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix says he was shaken by the poor quality of the intelligence on Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction provided by the United States and Britain."

That's because he relied on Saddam's word as his intelligence source.

[spartan68]

Blix shaken...

Yep, and little Tommy D saddened...

[RJL]

UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix says he was shaken by the poor quality of the intelligence on Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction provided by the United States and Britain.

As if the Americans and British would let Hans see the good quality intelligence. Giving information to Hans was just like giving it to Saddam. His group of inspectors and the UN leak like the proverbial sieve.

Hans didn't want to find anything that could start the war and Saddam was glad to help him find nothing.

Saddam hasn't been found yet, and nobody is saying he didn't exist. I believe the WMDs are real and will be found.

[Lady In Blue]

I don't agree at all. Why is it that leftist and others who were against the war were willing to give the UN inspectors as much time as they wanted but are not willing to do the same with our forces who have had more than their hand full,like winning the war, stabilizing the country and feeding the people and then added to all of that, search for WMD's. They gave the inspectors 6 years but now after only about 6 weeks,people expect all of the WMD's to be found.What planet are they living on?

[nathanbedford]

They gave the inspectors 6 years but now after only about 6 weeks,people expect all of the WMD's to be found

How about just one?

[Lady In Blue]

Just one? Well,that's better than only 6 weeks!:}} I say give them as much time as they need.

[Lancey Howard]

I wonder if it occurred to him that maybe the reason why they didn't find anything was because Iraqi intelligence had penetrated his organization

The US did not trust Blix and his mob for one second. It was all a farce from the beginning. I would bet, in fact, that the US laid traps along the way (during the Blix WMD tour last year) just to test the inspection team.

In any event, it is no wonder the US and Britain have told Blix, "Don't call us - - we'll call you."

[Republic]

I wonder if it occurred to him that maybe the reason why they didn't find anything was because Iraqi intelligence had penetrated his organization

I believe something is bothering Blix, alright.

This little worm WARNED Saddam not to use his WMD before the war, stating (paraphrasing here) that it would be a very bad move for Saddam to use such weaponry as the world would be unforgiving.

If Hans had no fear that such weapons even existed, he would never have sounded that warning note in the press to ol twisted saddam.