A former Brazilian diplomat was the protagonist of one of the most controversial episodes – now almost forgotten – in the days leading up to the war in Iraq.
On the 20th anniversary of the war in Iraq, José Maurício Bustani still suffers today for not having been able to prevent the conflict from unfolding.
“My feelings haven’t changed in 20 years,” the 77-year-old former Brazilian diplomat told the BBC.
“There was a pointless war that killed huge numbers of people on both sides and the only thing this conflict has shown is that it is possible to manipulate international society with brute force,” he adds.
The former Brazilian diplomat was the protagonist of one of the most controversial episodes – now almost forgotten – in the days that preceded the war in Iraq. In April 2002, he was dismissed as director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) after intense lobbying by Washington.
promises
At the time, Bustani was trying to get Iraq to sign the OPCW, which would force Saddam Hussein’s regime to allow inspectors full access to any chemical weapons at its disposal.
Allegations that Saddam had “stockpiles” of chemical weapons were the George W. Bush administration’s main wartime argument for invading the Middle Eastern country.
“I received a letter from the Iraqi government in late 2001 saying it was ‘ready’ to accept the Chemical Weapons Convention and inspections in the country,” recalls the former diplomat.
“It was a moment of pure happiness for me, but the Americans didn’t like the news one bit.”
The Baghdad correspondence took place shortly before Bush’s memorable January 2002 State of the Union address, his first since the 9/11 attacks. In the speech, he called Iran, Iraq and North Korea an “axis of evil” and accused Saddam’s regime of conspiring to develop chemical and nuclear weapons.
Bustani, who had headed the OPCW since 1997 and was unanimously re-elected to a second term in 2000, told the BBC the organization had “sufficient intelligence” that Iraq’s chemical weapons had been destroyed after the 1990-91 Gulf War. Furthermore, the body said that Iraq “lacked the capacity” to replenish stockpiles thanks to the crippling sanctions it had been subject to since that conflict.
“I think Washington already had a revenge plan for 9/11, as they were convinced Saddam was connected to the attacks. As soon as I told them about the attack [que sabíamos sobre o] Iraq, the campaign to expel me has begun.”
Change of vision in Washington
The US government criticized the Brazilian’s “management style” and later accused him of “financial mismanagement”, “being biased” and taking “ill-considered steps”. It was a dramatic departure from the endorsement he had received from then Secretary of State Colin Powell, who wrote to Bustani in 2001 to thank him for his “impressive” work.
As the largest contributor to the OPCW’s budget, the United States has threatened to withdraw its financial support for the agency.
On April 21, at the request of the United States, an extraordinary meeting was held which sealed the fate of the Brazilian in a special vote: 48 countries in favor of his dismissal, seven against and 43 abstentions.
“Several countries have long been concerned about his management style, and we have all decided to persuade him to quietly leave and find an appropriate way out. He has chosen not to,” a US official told the Washington Post on 23 April.
The same article noted that the episode “marked the United States’ fiercest public campaign to force a top international official out of office since the Clinton administration blocked the reelection of UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali in 1996”.
Pyrrhic victory
In his five years in office, Bustani oversaw the expansion of the OPCW from 87 to 145 member countries and the destruction of most of the world’s chemical weapons facilities. He would later serve as Brazil’s ambassador to the UK and France before retiring in 2015.
“The UK was one of the countries that voted for my resignation from the OPCW, but my stay was not as embarrassing as one might imagine,” the former diplomat joked.
He also won a wrongful termination case against the OPCW in arbitration from the International Labor Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency. Bustani donated his fee to the OPCW budget.
But that victory didn’t give the Brazilian any sense of satisfaction, nor did the lack of evidence to date of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq at the time of the conflict.
“That gives me no comfort. Two decades later, I’m still frustrated that there was an unnecessary war that affected the whole world,” Bustani said.
“I would have preferred to be heard to be right and avoid this conflict. And I still believe it would have been possible.”
Source: Terra
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