| Blixmanship |
3 February 2003
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What Does Blix Mean?
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has made his report to the world body concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and the punditocracy is trying to make heads and tails of it. The best place to start would be to understand Blix and his people first and the facts second. The report is not crystal clear because the people writing it had no interest in perfect clarity.
The UN people have a reputation of being over-fed, over-indulged folk who couldn't hold a job in their own country's governmental bureaucracies. Largely, this is the case, but even at the UN, the cream rises to the top (this is so because cream is mostly fat). And the people at the top got to their positions by not rocking the boat. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that the Blix Report is an attempt at even-handedness, cautioning that more time is needed while urging the parties to make it work. In short, it is the very essence of international politics -- jaw jaw beats war war.
The UN is merely a forum for nation-states to carry out their politics,
and as von Clausewitz notes, war is politics by other means. So, if we get a UN-sanctioned war, it will be the work of President's Saddam and Bush, not of Mr. Blix. A clear report would have removed any hope of discussion, and Mr. Blix did not get to where he is today by ending discussions with finality. That is a job for someone else. Pass the canapes.