Blix criticizes US, UK of over-interpreting Iraq intelligence

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 18, 2003

Blix criticizes US, UK of over-interpreting Iraq intelligence

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The United States and Britain had "over-interpreted" intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs and the US-led coalition could have avoided going to war with Iraq, former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said in an interview broadcast Thursday in London.

"They over interpreted...They were convinced that (former IraqiPresident) Saddam (Hussein) was going in this direction and I think it is understandable against the background of the man," Blix told the BBC Radio 4's Today Program.

Asked if the US-led war in Iraq was justified, Blix said he didnot think so.

Although there was a risk Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction, Blix said, the coalition should have allowed UN weapons inspections to continue for "a few months" longer.

"Do you go to war with any country where you say there is a possibility that they have weapons of mass destruction? No, I don't think it (military action) was at all obligatory," Blix said.

"I think they could have waited, they could have continued with inspections for a few months," he added.

"This is a bit risky. We (the UN inspectors) were more judicious in saying that we want to have real evidence," Blix said.

Blix, who had previously criticized British Prime Minister Tony Blair for making a "fundamental mistake" in claiming that Saddam could deploy weapons of mass destruction with 45 minutes in a weapons dossier published in last September, also accused the British government of using spin in the Iraq dossier.

He told the BBC that he hoped governments would be more cautious in the future use of special intelligence, arguing that exaggeration, spin and hype damaged government credibility.

Insisting that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the United States and Britain launched war against the country on March 20, two days after the UN inspectors led by Blix pulled out from Iraq without finishing their search for Iraq's alleged banned weapons.

So far, a search by the US-led 1,400-strong Iraq Survey Group has failed to find any weapons of mass destruction since the United States announced in May that major military combat in Iraq was over.

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