THE UN weapons inspector Hans Blix now believes the war on Iraq was ‘planned well in advance’ of his inspectors’ last visit to Iraq. He says, ‘You ask yourself a lot of questions when you see the things they did to try to show that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons programmes, like the fake contract with Niger.’
Before the war, Bush and Blair both claimed a key war aim was to rid Iraq of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Blair told the Commons last September that Iraq’s weapons programme was ‘active, detailed and growing’.
Yet no such weapons were used as the US invaded Iraq. Now most of the sites which Bush and Blair said were ‘suspect’ have been seized by invading troops – and no such weapons have been found. Last week, four separate claims that weapons of mass destruction had been found proved to be false. A nuclear site found by marines near Baghdad had been sealed by the UN a decade ago.
It emerged that white powder found near Najaf was ordinary explosive material, not chemical agents. Barrels of liquid found at Hindiyah turned out to be pesticides, not nerve agents as it was first claimed. And a cache of rockets appeared not to be carrying the chemical warheads first suspected.
The Bush regime now claims they haven’t found weapons of mass destruction because Iraq shipped them to Syria.
Protesters told Socialist Worker why they were marching
It wasn't negotiating skills that ended the war
When Thatcher went on the offensive
