JB

Chief U.N. Arms Inspector Hans Blix has concluded that Iraq probably had destroyed its weapons of mass destruction by 1991 and had none in its possession for over a decade, the Belfast Telegraph reports (also see this story from ABC News (Australian):

Mr Blix, who retired in June, told the Australian state broadcaster ABC: "I'm certainly more and more to the conclusion that Iraq has, as they maintained, destroyed all, almost, of what they had in the summer of 1991." . . .

Mr Blix, speaking from his home in Sweden, said that he thought it unlikely that non-UN experts deployed by the coalition forces to search for weapons of mass destruction would find anything beyond "some documents of interest". He added: "The more time that has passed, the more I think it's unlikely that anything will be found."

Blix also criticized the American and British governments for their decision to go to war on insufficient evidence of weapons of mass destruction, Reuters reports:

Blix attacked the "spin and hype" behind the U.S. and British allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Blix, who said this week he believed Iraq had destroyed such weapons 10 years ago, told BBC radio that Washington and London "over- interpreted" intelligence.

Comparing them to medieval witch-hunters, he said the two countries convinced themselves on the basis of evidence that was later discredited.

"In the Middle Ages when people were convinced there were witches they certainly found them. This is a bit risky," said Blix, whose inspectors left Iraq on the eve of war in March after just a few months of inspections.

I should note that despite Blix's confidence that there were no WMD's in Iraq when the Americans and British attacked, the Iraq Survey Group's report has yet to be released, and we will see whether any new evidence has emerged. Certainly the members of the survey have every incentive to find weapons of mass destruction if they are in fact there.