From Holden:

Hans Blix sez the War on Iraq made the world less safe. Go figure.

The war in Iraq has put neither Iran nor North Korea off the idea of nuclear weapons and has “stimulated terrorism”, Hans Blix, the former United Nations chief arms inspector in Iraq, said Tuesday.

“You wouldn’t expect any government to admit that they were wrong,” Blix told BBC radio. “I think, like everybody else, that it is good that Saddam (Hussein) is gone. The world is better off without Saddam.

“But the world is not any safer. If this was meant to be a signal to terrorists to stop their activities, it has failed miserably, it has stimulated terrorism.

“And it doesn’t stop proliferation. The Iranians and North Koreans, if they are up to that, they are not stopped by it.

“So I don’t think that any of the aims, except getting rid of Saddam himself, have succeeded.”