Hans Blix is such a sore loser.

Everyone’s favorite Swede was in the news a lot recently, claiming war with Iraq was unjustified, accusing the US of “questionable honesty”, and even suggesting that Saddam destroyed all WMDs in the 1990s.

One must ask, why exactly does Hans Blix feel compelled to jump into the spotlight now? A man once lauded for his neutrality and fairness now seems ready to start scratching and kicking and pulling at what remains of George W. Bush’s hair. What motivates this man?

Well, he’s pissed off; you would be too, if you were proven irrelevant by the world’s only superpower.

Hans Blix led the team of UN weapons inspectors which Iraq claimed to give “unfettered access” to its country after the US made it clear that war was an option. It was the most promising development regarding Iraq in years.

A key requirement of the 1991 cease-fire with Iraq was that it abandon all projects to manufacture WMDs and submit to thorough UN inspections. Iraq agreed, ending the war. Eleven years later, progress had been made, but progress had also stalled.

While UNSCOM’s inspection team uncovered significant information about Saddam Hussein’s clandestine weapons programs, it ran into persistently uncooperative behavior from Iraq in its disarmament efforts. Since UNSCOM was assembled in 1991 to investigate and disarm Iraq’s weaposn programs, and was no longer able to fulfill its charter, it was disbanded in 1998.

In 2002, Hans Blix headed UNMOVIC (which was granted less powers than UNSCOM) in its renewed search for Iraqi weapons programs, at the insistence of the US. While a UN resolution made it clear that Iraqis were to provide a full account of all weapons programs, it quickly became clear that they would not. Presenting a dossier of old information, some of it discovered in the early 90s, their official line was, “We have nothing. Come and see.”

Whether there were actual WMDs, or even concrete and active WMD programs, we may not know for a long time. However, hard evidence was not required to declare Iraq in further material breach of UN Resolution 1441:

[The Council] decides that false statements or omissions in the declarations submitted by Iraq … and failure by Iraq at any time to comply … and cooperate fully … shall constitute a further material breach of Iraq’s obligations …

There you have it. If Iraq makes omissions, or fails to fully cooperate, then they have violated the resolution. That’s exactly what happened. Satellite photos indicated sites were being emptied and cleansed as UN inspectors were en route. Nuclear research documents were found hidden in scientists’ homes. Weapons designed for dispensing chemical weapons were unearthed in more than one location.

Yet Hans Blix, ever the shining beacon of neutrality, refused to categorize all this as a “material breach of Iraq’s obligations.” In his opinion, we simply needed more time to negotiate — as if UNSCOM hadn’t tried that already.

You know the rest of the story. We went to war, Saddam fled, the Iraqi army crumbled, and now the rest of the world has a chance to build the first truly democratic state in the history of the Middle East. It’s time to move on; whether you supported the war or opposed it, the Iraqi people are now our responsibility. Everyone’s focus should turn to rebuilding Iraq; to bicker over what has already been done is counterproductive, and most of the world’s leaders have recognized this.

Hans Blix, however, obviously hasn’t. Can’t blame him for being angry that his great quest for a peaceful disarmament has come to an end. But these latest statements of his are like the kicking and screaming of a child whose pacifier has been taken away; they are counterproductive, and more importantly, irrelevant.