Disarming Iraq: The Search for Weapons of Mass Destruction - Tapa dura

Hans Blix recounts the events leading up to the declaration of war on Iraq in March 2003, looking back to Saddam Hussein?s long wrangle with the international community since the first Gulf War and forward to the implications for international security in the aftermath of the war just ended. In clear-eyed descriptions of his meetings with Blair, Bush, Chirac, Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell and Kofi Annan, he conveys the frustrations, the tensions, the pressure and the drama of the months leading up to the US/UK-led attack on Iraq. He also asks and answers key questions including: Could the war have been prevented? Was it inevitable? Does Iraq have weapons of mass destruction? Why couldn't the US and the UK secure the backing of the member states of the UN Security Council? And: What can be learnt from the Iraq war for the prevention of the spread and use of WMDs in the future?

Dr Hans Blix was Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1981 to 1997. Recalled by the UN in 2000 to become Executive Chairman, UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), he presided over the re-introduction of weapons inspectors in Iraq in 2002. He is currently Chairman of the newly formed International Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction, which began its work in January 2004.