"I also hear your president say that war is the means of last resort and I think he means that. I met him last autumn and he assured me that they wanted to come through and disarm Iraq by peaceful means, and that's what we are trying to do as hard as we can"
About this Quote
The power of Hans Blix here is in how carefully he performs belief. “I think he means that” is diplomatic code: an affirmation that isn’t quite an endorsement, a public vote of confidence designed to keep the room from tipping into inevitability. Blix isn’t just describing U.S. intentions; he’s trying to shape them, using the soft leverage available to an inspector whose authority depends on access, cooperation, and the fragile fiction that all parties still prefer peace.
Notice the repeated insistence on sincerity: “he assured me,” “peaceful means,” “as hard as we can.” Blix frames the Iraq standoff as a problem solvable by procedure and patience, not by shock-and-awe. That’s not naivete so much as strategy. By narrating the U.S. president as committed to “last resort,” Blix raises the reputational cost of rushing to war. If Washington acts otherwise, it risks appearing to have spoken in bad faith, and Blix has created a record.
The subtext is institutional self-defense. UN inspections in 2002-03 were a test of whether international verification could restrain a superpower’s tempo. Blix knows his credibility hinges on being seen as even-handed: too skeptical of the U.S. and he becomes an obstacle; too credulous and he becomes a prop. So he chooses a calibrated tone of cooperative restraint, emphasizing effort over outcome.
In the shadow of an approaching invasion, the line reads less like reassurance than like a plea for time. Blix is arguing that legitimacy is something you earn through process, and that the process is still working - if anyone is willing to let it.
Notice the repeated insistence on sincerity: “he assured me,” “peaceful means,” “as hard as we can.” Blix frames the Iraq standoff as a problem solvable by procedure and patience, not by shock-and-awe. That’s not naivete so much as strategy. By narrating the U.S. president as committed to “last resort,” Blix raises the reputational cost of rushing to war. If Washington acts otherwise, it risks appearing to have spoken in bad faith, and Blix has created a record.
The subtext is institutional self-defense. UN inspections in 2002-03 were a test of whether international verification could restrain a superpower’s tempo. Blix knows his credibility hinges on being seen as even-handed: too skeptical of the U.S. and he becomes an obstacle; too credulous and he becomes a prop. So he chooses a calibrated tone of cooperative restraint, emphasizing effort over outcome.
In the shadow of an approaching invasion, the line reads less like reassurance than like a plea for time. Blix is arguing that legitimacy is something you earn through process, and that the process is still working - if anyone is willing to let it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
|---|
More Quotes by Hans
Add to List
