Appearing on Music Television cable network Hans Blix lamented the US nixing of the UN Kyoto Carbon Dioxide protocal: “To me the question of the environment [such as global warming] is more ominous than that of peace and war.” (See “IPCC Temperature Projections in Serious Doubt” Feb 13th 2003 , The Economist, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had better check its calculations http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1579333> Only a useful idiot like Blix could make George Bush look like a genius! Keep it up, Hans, baby. --Orson
OK Orson, how about this one . . . The UN weapons inspection team needed a new leader after Butler left (why did he leave? I don't remember A guy was nominated and he appeared to be eminently qualified. Everybody seemed to like him, it seemed to be a sure bet. Then, at the last minute, three members on the UN security council decided they didn't like this guy. It seems they felt that he was too much of a hardliner, too tough. These three members of the security council (can you name them?) had their own nominee. Someone who was easier to get along with, someone who would not cause problems. On January 27th of 2000, France, Russia and China nominated Hans Blix to be the head of the UN weapons inspection team. We're now living with the results. Orson . . . I know you're the resident Historian. I'll give you (or anyone else) BIG brownie points if you can tell us, "Who was the original nominee?" (BTW, I don't know the answer myself) Jack
You're probably thinking of Rolf Ekeus, a Swedish foreign policy expert who headed up UNSCOM from 1993 until Butler took over in 1997. When Unmovic was formed, Ekeus was originally slated to head it up--but just as you said, some U.N. Security Council members objected and suggested Blix as an alternate. Cheers,
The first objection was from the Soviet Union. The others were from France and China. Tunesia stated they would support only7 if unanimous. The objections were likely due to the fact that Amb. Ekeus was the Swedish Ambassador to the United States for a number of years.
Rolf Ekeus?? I thought it was Jayantha Dhanapala from Sri Lanka that replaced Butler????? My mind, my mind, where did I put my mind..... ??? Wes
Gold stars for everyone! I just heard this story on the radio news yesterday. It seems that you guys knew it from the start. It's just one of the reasons that degreeinfo is the place to be. Jack
And guess who nominated Blix? AND why? FOLLOW THE MONEY: "StrategyPage http://www.strategypage.com/fyeo/howtomakewar/default.asp?target=HTMURPH.HTM details who really armed Saddam, by tracking how much money he owes to different countries. The top three dealers? "Soviet Union- Over 25 billion dollars France and China – at least five billion dollars each. "Is it any coincidence that these are three of the loudest voices against us getting into Saddam's filing cabinets? "NOTE: If you're curious, Saddam owes the US less than a quarter million dollars -- and we're usually pretty easy about giving credit." Courtesy of www.VodkaPundit.com
