[…] A central pillar of the US and British case for invading was claims that Iraq was secretly developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD)—claims that were later revealed to be entirely wrong. SIPRI has filmed new interviews with two of the leaders of the United Nations weapons inspection teams that operated in Iraq in the 1990s and the months leading up to the invasion.
Ambassador Rolf Ekéus was Executive Chairman of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) in Iraq between 1991 and 1997. Following Iraq’s defeat in the first Gulf War (1990–91), UNSCOM weapons inspectors found and oversaw the destruction of Iraqi missile and nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programmes. In his interview, Ambassador Ekéus reflects on the invasion and the legacy of UNSCOM.
As Executive Chairman of UNSCOM’s successor, the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), Dr Hans Blix directed teams of scientific experts who were tasked with resolving the last questions remaining from UNSCOM’s work, and—from November 2002 until the invasion—working on the ground in Iraq to investigate the new claims about Iraqi WMD. In his interview Dr Blix discusses the experience of that critical period and the lessons it offers today. Läs artikel