- COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -- The
costs of the war in Iraq have outweighed the benefits of removing Saddam
Hussein, former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix told a Danish newspaper.
-
- "It's positive that Saddam and his bloody regime
is gone, but when one weighs the costs, it's clearly the negative aspects
that dominate," Blix told daily Jyllands-Posten in an interview.
-
- The Swedish diplomat has criticized the United States
and Britain for going to war without U.N. approval rather than allowing
his team to continue its hunt for banned weapons.
-
- In the interview, Blix said the war had contributed to
a destabilization of the Middle East and a move away from democracy in
the region, adding that even though Iraqis had been spared life under a
dictator, it was at too high a cost.
-
- "Bush declared war as a part of the U.S. war on
terror, but instead of limiting the effects of terror, the war has laid
the foundation for even more terror," Blix said.
-
- Blix was scorned by the United States and Britain for
failing to conclude Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction ahead of
their invasion. But a year on, no such weapons have been found.
-
- Blix, a lawyer and former Swedish foreign minister who
at 75 now serves as chairman of Sweden's Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission,
retired from the United Nations last June.
-
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