Between 1962 and 1978 Blix was a member of the Swedish delegation at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva. He held several other positions in the Swedish administration between 1963 and 1976, and from 1961 to 1981, he served on the Swedish delegation to the United Nations. From 1978 to 1979, Blix was the Swedish Foreign Minister.
Blix chaired the Swedish Liberal Party's campaign during the 1980 referendum on nuclear power, campaigning in favour of the retention of the Swedish nuclear energy program.
Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (1981–1997)
Blix personally made repeated inspection visits to the Iraqi nuclear reactor Osiraq before its attempted destruction by the Iranians, in 1980, and its eventual destruction by the Israeli Air Force in 1981 during Operation Opera. Although most agreed that Iraq was years away from being able to build a nuclear weapon, the Iranians and the Israelis felt any raid must occur well before nuclear fuel was loaded to prevent nuclear fallout. The attack was regarded as being in breach of the United Nations Charter (S/RES/487) and was widely condemned. Iraq was alternately praised and admonished by the IAEA for its cooperation and lack thereof. It was only after the first Gulf War that the full extent of Iraq's nuclear programs, which had switched from a plutonium-based weapon design to a highly enriched uranium design after the destruction of Osiraq, became known.
Blix personally admonished Saddam for "cat and mouse" games[4] and warned Iraq of "serious consequences" if it attempted to hinder or delay his mission.[5]
In his report to the UN Security Council on 14 February 2003, Blix claimed that "so far, UNMOVIC has not found any such weapons [of mass destruction], only a small number of empty chemical munitions."[6]
In 2004 Blix stated that "there were about 700 inspections, and in no case did we find weapons of mass destruction."[7]
Blix's statements about the Iraq WMD program contradicted the claims of the George W. Bush administration[8] and attracted a great deal of criticism from supporters of the invasion of Iraq. In an interview on BBC 1 on 8 February 2004, Blix accused the US and British governments of dramatizing the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to strengthen the case for the 2003 war against the government of Saddam Hussein. Ultimately, U.S. troops found no active manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction, but found roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells, or aviation bombs that had been manufactured prior to 1991.[9][10]
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Blix said, "I have my detractors in Washington. There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who planted nasty things in the media."[11]
In 2004, Blix published a book, Disarming Iraq, where he gives his account of the events and inspections before the coalition began its invasion.
CIA investigation
Senior American officials ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to investigate Blix to gather "sufficient ammunition to undermine" him so that the US could start the invasion of Iraq. The American officials were upset that the CIA did not uncover such information.[12][13]
Blix said he suspected his home and office were bugged by the United States while he led teams searching for Saddam Hussein's supposed weapons of mass destruction.[14] Although these suspicions were never directly substantiated, evidence of a request for bugging of UN Security Council representatives around the time the US was seeking approval from the council came to light after a British government translator leaked a document "allegedly from an American National Security Agency" requesting that British intelligence put wiretaps on delegates to the UN Security Council.[15]
Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission
Since 2003 Blix has been chairman of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC), an independent body funded by the Swedish government and based in Stockholm.[16]
In December 2006, the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission said in a report that Pakistan's nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan could not have acted alone when passing on nuclear data and designs "without the awareness of the Pakistan government."[17]
Head of Advisory Board for United Arab Emirates Nuclear Program
Blix chairs a panel of advisors who oversee the establishment of the UAE's Dh150 billion atomic energy programme. He leads the nine-person board,[20] which meets twice a year.[21] The International Advisory Board (IAB) oversees the progress of the nation's nuclear energy plan and issues reports on potential improvements to the scheme.[22]
Awards and honours
Awards
H. M. The King's Medal, 12th size gold (silver-gilt) medal worn around the neck on the Order of the Seraphim ribbon (1998)[23]
Elected as Honorary President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations in 2009. Elected as President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations in Buenos Aires in 2006 and served until 2009.
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