Hans Blix: All Eyes on The Inspector

IN A PERFECT WORLD, HOW LONG SHOULD INSPECTIONS PROCEED BEFORE YOU KNOW WHETHER IRAQ IS COOPERATING?

It should not take a very long time. There will always be a residue of uncertainty, but for the larger things, industrial-scale activities, I think within a number of months.

DO YOU THINK IRAQ IS BECOMING MORE COOPERATIVE?

There is clearly a difference between the tone [of my report to the U.N.] on Jan. 27 and the one I had [in the second report] Feb. 14. I am supposed to give an accurate description of the reality I see. And if the reality changes, I damn well ought to register that. By the 14th of February, we had been to Baghdad, and there were a number of things that...did not bring us close to disarmament but opened up the potential opportunity for progress.

WHAT EXACTLY WAS THIS POTENTIAL PROGRESS?

They [initially] said, We destroyed all the biological weapons in the summer of 1991--but the documentation was destroyed, and we cannot tell you anything more about it. Now they said, Well, maybe there is a way of finding out underground. I said that our people were not very hopeful about it, but nevertheless we would [pursue] it. They claim they had drilled in the ground and there was rock underneath, and they thought we might still find traces of it.

ANY OTHER HOPEFUL DEVELOPMENTS?

We [received] a letter that gave us the names of persons who had taken part in the destruction of biological weapons in the summer of 1991. These are people who are still alive and who [could be] interviewed about it. Since then we have had further names from the missile sector and from the chemical. I'm not rushing to conclusions that this is going to give results. They could be scripted. They could all tell us the same story.

HAVE YOU BEGUN TO INTERVIEW THE PEOPLE ON THOSE LISTS?

No, but we are planning for how it will be done.

IS CREDIBLE THREAT OF FORCE NECESSARY TO GET EVEN MINIMAL COMPLIANCE?

Just as Kofi Annan says, diplomacy may need to be backed up by force. Inspections may need to be backed up by pressure.

SO THE BUILDUP OF U.S. FORCES ACTUALLY HAS HELPED YOU?

I don't think there would have been any inspection but for outside pressure, including U.S. forces.

ARE THE MEMBERS OF THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL DEPENDING ON YOU TOO MUCH TO MAKE UP THEIR MINDS?

No, I don't think so. The way I read the U.S. and perhaps the U.K. now, they are more intent on looking at the cooperation rather than the degree of disarmament. It seems to me that the U.S. and U.K. are looking at: Is there a change of heart?

YOU SAID FEB. 14 THAT MANY PROSCRIBED ITEMS, INCLUDING TONS OF CHEMICAL AGENT, WERE UNACCOUNTED FOR. YOU SAID THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT OUTSTANDING ISSUES, INCLUDING THE WHEREABOUTS OF PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED STORES OF ANTHRAX AND VX POISONS AND LONG-RANGE MISSILES. ISN'T IT REASONABLE TO CONCLUDE THAT THE IRAQIS AREN'T COOPERATING?

Is non-delivery of documents that they deny having noncooperation? They deny they have these documents, and [others] say they are not giving the documents. Well, I don't have evidence that they have them.

SO WHEN YOU SAY TO THEM, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ANTHRAX? THEY SAY, WELL, THERE WAS A HOLE IN THE GROUND IN THE DESERT AND WE PUT IT IN?