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| "We are not stopped anywhere" ...
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| "We are in nobody's pocket" ...
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| Blix says the impatience is driven by worries about troop morale, opinion polls and weather ...
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| "I hear your president say that war is the means of last
resort" ...
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| Blix is more worried about global warming than any armed conflict ...
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| Hans Blix Talks Iraq |
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| John Norris Tells The Story Behind The Interview
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Three years ago, Hans Blix was enjoying retirement after a lifetime in diplomacy and law. Then, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan came calling. Now, as Blix oversees weapons inspections in Iraq, he finds himself a key player in a standoff that seems destined to lead to war.
The 74-year-old Swede, who originally planned to go into teaching, is the head of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), and the man whose opinions about the Iraqi weapons program ultimately carry the most weight. As the world urges Saddam Hussein to disarm, it is Blix and his team that will — through on-site inspections — try to determine if the Iraqi leader is complying. The U.S. and its allies are pushing for justification for military action in Iraq, while key opponents on the U.N. Security Council are calling for further inspections. Blix stands between the two, trying to fairly and impartially determine the true scope of Iraq's weapons program.
MTV News' John Norris sat down with Blix at the U.N. this week for a rare interview, and found an agreeable and surprisingly calm man at the middle of this global storm.
John Norris: Can you tell me what the United Nations inspectors do on a daily basis?
Hans Blix: The inspections started in 1991, right after the Gulf War. One of the conditions for the ceasefire was that Iraq had to do away with all of its weapons of mass destruction — biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. In order for the world to have confidence that Iraq did that, they decided that there would be inspectors, and they would go around the country and look at the various industries, military instillations, and anywhere else in the country to check that Iraq had really done away with the weapons. They did that for eight years, and they destroyed more weapons during that period than were destroyed during the whole Gulf War. However, there were grave doubts as to how much remained, and that is what we are looking for still.
Norris: Is there a substantial difference in what life is like for inspectors today compared to say, in 1998, when the inspectors eventually left?
Blix: There is a big difference. It's better now because the Iraqis are helpful in terms of the process. In 1998 inspectors were often stopped and told, "You can't come in here," or, "You can't do that." Since we have come in November of last year, they are open everywhere — we go to presidential sites, we go to military sites, we go to sensitive sites and we are not stopped anywhere. That doesn't necessarily mean they're not hiding something, but we are much better off than they were in 1998.
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Photo: MTV News
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