Blix, Hans

▪ 2004

      As the likelihood of war between the United States and Iraq grew in early 2003, the eyes of the world turned toward a soft-spoken Swedish lawyer named Hans Blix, the executive chairman (since 2000) of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), which was undertaking the arduous job of searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Blix and UNMOVIC had little wiggle room when it came to revealing the results of inspections. Any rush to judgment would be interpreted as either bowing to mounting pressure from the administration of U.S. Pres. George W. Bush or being too soft on Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein and his regime.

      Blix was born on June 28, 1928, in Uppsala, Sweden. He studied at the University of Uppsala and at Columbia University, New York City, before earning a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. He studied law at Stockholm University and taught there in 1960. He became a member of Sweden's delegation to the UN General Assembly the following year and served until 1981. From 1962 to 1978 he was a member of Sweden's delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. In 1963 Blix joined Sweden's Foreign Ministry, rising in 1976 to the post of undersecretary of state in charge of international development cooperation. He assumed the post of foreign minister in 1978.

      During the first 10 years of Blix's tenure as director general (1981–97) of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA repeatedly gave assurances that Iraq was not developing nuclear weapons. Following the Gulf War in 1991, however, U.S. inspectors found evidence of a secret nuclear weapons program in Iraq. In 2002 the Bush administration, with backing from Great Britain, began to push for an attack on Iraq, claiming that the country was developing chemical weapons. On November 8 the UN passed a resolution requiring Iraq to disarm, and UN inspectors entered the country on November 25.

      Though Bush administration officials expressed skepticism over Blix's ability to press Iraq to reveal and suspend any illegal arms development, Blix admonished Iraqi officials in January 2003 for not cooperating with inspectors. The Bush administration saw Blix's report as evidence backing its claims that war was necessary. Blix, however, felt uncomfortable having his initial findings used as rationale for warfare and emphasized a need for inspections to continue. The U.S. began to grow impatient. In late February Blix instructed Iraq to dismantle a number of missiles that violated UN guidelines, but by March 19 the U.S. and Great Britain had begun their attack on Iraq.

      In June, following the war, Blix issued a report that said the UN inspectors had found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but he urged the U.S. to allow UN inspectors into occupied Iraq to continue their work. The request was met with resistance from the Bush administration. Blix retired from UNMOVIC on June 30.

Anthony G. Craine

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▪ Swedish diplomat

born June 28, 1928, Uppsala, Swed.

      Swedish diplomat, who was director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA; 1981–97) and served as the chief weapons inspector for the United Nations (UN; 2000–03) during the lead-up to the Iraq War.

      Blix studied at Uppsala University in Sweden and Columbia University in New York City before earning a doctorate from the University of Cambridge. He studied law at Stockholm University and taught there in 1960. The following year he became a member of Sweden's delegation to the UN General Assembly and served until 1981. From 1962 to 1978 he was a member of Sweden's delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. In 1963 Blix joined Sweden's Foreign Ministry, rising in 1976 to the post of undersecretary of state in charge of international development cooperation. He assumed the post of foreign minister in 1978 and was appointed director general of the IAEA in 1981.

 During the first 10 years of his tenure as director general of the IAEA, Blix repeatedly gave assurances that Iraq was not developing nuclear weapons. Following the Persian Gulf War (1990–91), however, U.S. inspectors found evidence of a secret nuclear weapons program in Iraq. In March 2000, over U.S. objections, Blix was appointed the executive chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), which had the arduous job of searching for weapons of mass destruction (weapon of mass destruction) (WMD) in Iraq. On Nov. 8, 2002, the UN Security Council passed a resolution requiring Iraq to disarm, and UN inspectors entered the country later that month. In January 2003, however, Blix reported to the council that the Iraqi regime had not been sufficiently cooperative. U.S. Pres. George W. Bush (Bush, George W.) and his administration, which had been pushing for an attack on Iraq (Iraq War), saw this as evidence backing its claims that war was necessary. In March 2003 the United States began launching air strikes against the country.

      In June 2003 Blix issued a report that said the UN inspectors had found no evidence of WMD in Iraq but urged the United States to allow UN inspectors into occupied Iraq to continue their work. The request was met with strong resistance from the U.S. government. Choosing not to extend his term with UNMOVIC, Blix retired on June 30, 2003. He subsequently wrote Disarming Iraq (2004), which included harsh criticism of the Bush administration and its actions leading up to the invasion of Iraq. In July 2003 Blix became the executive chairman of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Committee, an autonomous international organization based in Sweden.

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