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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (24833)	6/15/2003 12:02:49 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25898

Surely you don't expect me to believe a liar like you. You must show me some proof of the bold assertions you make about Blix's about face. Raymond, surely by now you should now that I very seldom post anything that is a lie. I am a firm believer in providing documentation for one's beliefs. I mean, why don't you do the most cursory web-search, just as I did, in order to find out if I'm lying or not. It's much better than coming out in public and making such a fool out of yourself. It's one thing to come out here and play the "court jester" with witty sarcasm, and quite another to expose yourself as a complete moron who's too lazy to research his facts. When you come right out in public and call me a liar on such a easily verifiable fact, only to see me shove the proof down your throat (as I'm doing in this post), you lose ALL sense of credibility. And any sense of integrity you might be trying to present, goes right out the window as well.. theage.com.au Blix denies 'bastard' comment (see Raymond? Right in the headline). June 12 2003 Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said the Bush administration criticised UN inspections - but has denied it pressured him or that he called US officials "bastards". "I've had very good and correct relations with the Bush administration," he said today. "I still do, I hope." Blix, who oversaw a fruitless search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, was quizzed about an interview published today in London's Guardian newspaper, under a banner headline saying "I was smeared by the Pentagon". The report subsequently appeared on other newspapers around the world. "I have my detractors in Washington. There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who planted nasty things in the media," Blix was quoted as telling the newspaper. Asked today whether he used the word "bastards" referring to the Bush administration, Blix replied: "No, no, absolutely not. I was talking about private individuals." Assistant Editor Brian McDermott at The Guardian said in an interview late today, "Blix hasn't come back to us to contradict what we've published. We absolutely stand by what our reporter has written." Blix, who is retiring on June 30, explained that some people have waged a campaign against him since before he became chief UN inspector three years ago. "There was a former Swedish prime minister who wrote about me a number of nasty articles," he said. This was an apparent reference to former Swedish deputy prime minister Per Ahlmark, who wrote in two US newspapers in January that Blix, a fellow Swede, was soft on Iraq and was trying to appease Saddam Hussein. Blix said he hadn't seen him since the 1970s. "It's something he got from private sources - not from the Pentagon," Blix said of the information in Ahlmark's articles. "It's not anything I lose sleep on." When asked whether the Bush administration pressured UN inspectors, Blix replied, "No, we had a correct relation with the Bush administration all the way through." The Guardian quoted Blix as saying American officials pressured him to use more damning language when reporting on Iraq's alleged weapons programs. "Of course, criticism - there was some. At one time there was a question to the CIA to inquire about me and I didn't take that very seriously," Blix said, without elaborating. He cited differences between the Bush administration and UN inspectors over interviewing Iraqi scientists. The United States wanted scientists taken out of the country, with their families, but Blix questioned the feasibility, citing possible requests for asylum and risks to relatives left behind. Blix said that "toward the end they (the United States) would have been very keen to have us come out and say that ... (Iraq had) weapons of mass destruction." "On our side we have at no time said that we think the Iraqis have weapons of mass destruction," he said. "We have said at all times that there are many question marks." After the war, the United States barred UN inspectors from returning. But more than two months later, US-led teams have failed to find illegal weapons after visiting more than 230 suspected sites - and this has become a major issue in Washington, London and other international capitals. "We are interested in the Americans and the other inspectors there now coming to the truth," Blix said. Asked whether there was a smear campaign against him, Blix again referred to the articles by Ahlmark. "There have been fairytales told about both Mr ElBaradei and myself and it's so low that I really don't feel like elaborating," he added. Mohamed ElBaradei is the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is in charge of nuclear inspections. US Secretary of State Colin Powell and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan both praised Blix today. "There is no smear campaign I am aware of," Powell said. "I have high regard for Dr Blix. I worked very closely with Dr Blix. I noted the president had confidence in him as well." Annan, standing alongside Powell at the entrance to the State Department in Washington, said some press reports about Blix were unfair. "He did a good job. He had universal respect for his professionalism."