Hans Blix Resigns

Hans Blix is either on the verge of turning 75 or has already turned 75. AFAIK he wanted to quit at that point in time anyway ...

Too bad he didn't want to quit at age 65 or 70. We may have seen a different resolution of the Iraq disarmament issue.

"'We gave him 70 sites to visit and he only went to seven,' said one angry U.S. official...Blix said he couldn't remember how many sites he was given. "

Probably the same official that claimed he buried evidence at page 178 of the report...

Unfortunately, Blix said he couldn't remember how much evidence he had buried or omitted.

So if the UN had voted to continue inspections another couple of months, Blix would have ended up resigning right in the middle of that? The additional time would have been marred by the top official leaving? Who'd bet that would have made a good excuse for yet another extension (and another, and another, ad nauseum)?

The war would have started earlier is the only other thing that would have happened.

I don't know if you've noticed, but the war has started. People are already dieing, whether it pleases you or not. (I sometimes ask myself if all you true blue super patriots actually care about American lives or if you just like to see images of glorious high tech soldiers and weaponry being used in combat similar to what you play on your computers)

This vengeful gloating against those who did not want this war might give you a sense of satisfaction, (I suspect that some of you would like Hans Blix shot as a traitor or something) but it won't change what happened. He went to far more than just 7 sites, and that claim by an "unnamed" American official is not what was shown on TV in the months preceding the war.

The recent quote in the media that American soldiers found a chemical weapons factory in Najaf, a site that had been searched often by the UN inspectors, that has since been rebutted as the Americans couldn't actually find any evidence of chemical weapons there, seems to underline the assertion that, if there are factories producing chemical weapons, they are not that easy to find. I would wager that American and British generals are under political pressure to "find" evidence of weapons of mass destruction and to portray the Iraqi population as "welcoming" the invaders. The news clip on TV last night of an Iraqi man in Um Qasr and his family telling the British and the Americans to "go home" in English, does undermine such assertions. There were no Iraqis pointing guns at his head. The possibility that the Iraqis are not so happy about having a war destroying their homes and their families might not fit in with the love of killing shown by many here, but it seems like a normal reaction to war to me.

It seems that many in your country want the following things:
a.The US should ignore the UN
b.The US should punish (attack?) any country that does not agree with the US, such as Canada, France and Germany.
c.The US should start a huge series of wars in the middle east to "bring democracy to that region"
d.That people who do not want war should be shot, or "stoned in the streets" as our local MacNN neonazi has claimed.

Fine, if that is what you so desperately want, do it. get your politicians to start economic sanctions against France, Canada and Germany (and the Pope as he doesn't want war either). Attack Syria, Iran and North Korea. Leave the UN. Start public executions of anyone who doesn't follow the government line.

And then you can welcome Saddam Hussein as a consultant on political affairs into your government, because that is what his country is like.

Considering his age, it's possible there is something else going on here. He could be feeling the effects of Alzheimers disease. I'm not making a joke here. That was part of Ronald Reagans problem during the Iran Contra hearings but the general public did not realize a thing until he was out of office.

Maybe he just can't remember all that -- after all, he's 74

Some of Blix's weapons inspectors are in talks that they will oversee the disarmament of Iraq after the war. Looks like his job is not as bad as the US Administrations tries to.

Weapons inspectors also said that the ?evidence' given to them by the coalition was ?rubbish', ?completely unusable'.

IMHO, the pro-war fanatics are NOT american patriots. They're very short-sighted and haven't thought about the implications of Bush's present narrowing centrism.
oh, they THINK they are, and I honestly believe that they honestly believe they are, but they are supporting that which will only, in the long term, serve to hasten the demise of the US as a global power.

in that way, in my opinion, they are actually traitors. Though I know they think exactly opposite of me, and think that by my opposing this pre-emptive attack on Iraq that I am the traitor.

Time will tell, unfortunately I will most likely be right, but I won't be happy about it, because by then we'll be halfway to hell in a handbasket.

No, it seems that you are either unaware of the US position, or you delude yourself into believing just about anything other than the facts:

a. The UN, to be a purposeful body, has to hold to account those nations who repeatedly violate disarmament resolutions (in Iraq's case - 17 violated resolutions over 12 years)

b. The US can not rely on the UN to protect it's citizens, especially considering the UN's dismal record. The UN failed to protect civilian lives in Somalia � 1993; Bosnia � 1994 and 1996. More than one million human beings were slaughtered in Ruwanda and the Congo in 1996 and 1997; the Kosovo campaign of 1998 and 1999, which has unfortunate repercussions to this day; and the 2000 Israeli-Palestinian confrontation, which is still going on.

c. Saddam Hussein is a brutal tyrant who has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of his own citizens (which continues to this day)

d. Saddam Hussein is a huge sponsor of terrorism, supporting families of suicide bombers worldwide (mostly Palestinian) with $25,000 payments, and providing safe haven, food, shelter, communications, and training grounds to numerous terror organizations (including Al Qaeda)

The reason many Americans dismiss peacenik arguments is because they fail to address these critical issues. Instead, they create conspiracy theories and claim that the war is really about oil, for example, without once examining the details of such a claim (ex. the US could buy ALL the oil in Iraq for a small fraction of what it costs to wage war).

70% of US citizens and an overwhelming majority of congress (our elected officials) are the traitors?

What a joke.

What Rubbish Lerk. I think this war has really effected your outlook. Thanks for the codescending post though. I have indeed thought about the implications. The fact that this country would put it's ass on the line to save other people's lives makes me proud to be a citizen.

This is just more silly "They only think the way they do because they are simple minded and don't think about things clearly" crap.

The demise of the US as a world power?

Give me a break.

Come on, they aren't thinking spacefreak!

Unless you think like the anti-war zealots, you aren't thinking!

Join the collective.

OK...I'll start here:

Congratulations, Zimphire...you just made my ignore list.

ps- I'm joking

Have you ever noticed it's mostly only the people that are ANTI-war that are filling the banlists up?

Wonder why that is.

Welcome to Leftworld(tm), yet again. Unless you think like them you are an idiot or ignorant or brainwashed or something. Polite disagreements on principle need not apply.

IMHO, the pro-war fanatics are NOT american patriots. They're very short-sighted and haven't thought about the implications of Bush's present narrowing centrism.


Umm. Centrism is bad? I've always thought being a moderate was a good thing. Keep me away from those quacks on the far left and far right. Often they have preconceived notions about the way the world is and then force everything into those notions - whether they fit or not.

He said NARROWING centrism.

How do you know that the implications have not been thought out? What if someone had the foresight to "Pre-Emtively" fight hitler in WW2 before he took over most of Europe?

Either way the world is still going to hell in a handbasket. what about other places causing global instability? French in the Gold Coast, Israel and the Palistinians, Al Qaeda and the growing threat of global terrorism?

In my opinion I don't think you are a traitor though a case might be made for it. I thnk you are more short sighted than anything else.

this is good new. Hans Blix was useless.