The war against Iraq divided opinion throughout the world, and generated a maelstrom of spin and counterspin. The man at the eye of the storm, and arguably the only key ployer to emerge with his integrity intact was Hans Blix, head of the UN weapons-inspection team. This is Dr Blix's account of what really happened in the run-up to the declaration of war on Iraq in March 2003. In clear-eyed descriptions of his meetings with Tony Blair, George Bush, Jacques Chirac, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Kofi Annan, he conveys the frustrations, the tensions, the pressure and the Brama as the clock ticked down. He asks key questions including: Could the war have been prevented or was it inevitable? Does Iraq have weapons of mass destruction? Why couldn't the US and the UK secure the backing of the member states of the UN Security Council? What tan be learnt from the Iraq war for the prevention of the spread and use of WMDs in the future? His answers are thoughtful and authoritative. Disarming Iraq is not only a powerful and necessary record of the most important event of our time, but a careful consideration of what the future holds for peace and security in the world after Iraq.
