Hans Blix is the Chief weapons inspector in Iraq.  He works for the United Nations.

At the age of 35 he began work with the Swedish foreign ministry. In fifteen years he became the head of the organization. His next position was at the International Atomic Energy Agency, where he worked for sixteen years, negotiating nuclear policy between and among the nations of the world.

In 1988, Blix received the Henry DeWolf Smyth Nuclear Statesman Award, and in 1997 he was awarded the Gold Medal for distinguished service in the field of nuclear affairs by the Uranium Institute, the predecessor to the World Nuclear Association.

The Swedish diplomat now directs the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic). This commission is in charge of unearthing the guilt or innocence (in international terms) of Saddam Hussein and the government of Iraq. In November of 2002, he headed the United Nations weapons inspection team returning to Baghdad to search the country for chemical, biological, and ballistic weapons. Dr. Blix went into Iraq accompanied by Mohamed El Baradei, and is scheduled to direct more than 200 agents scouring the Iraqi technoscape.

Dr. Blix negotiated the logistics of the mission with Iraqi officials as the U.S. faced off with other members of the Security Council over the wording of a UN resolution. It is easy to see the danger here. If you search for the teeth of a lion, the first one you find could be in your ribs.

His critics point to the Iraqi nuclear fiasco and ask why a man who missed one of the most extensive illegal arms programs in recent years has been selected to conduct inspections in Iraq today. "He has a history of not being terribly aggressive," said Gary Milhollin, of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. "The Iraqis were given stars for good behavior, when in fact they were making bombs in the rooms next door to the ones the inspectors were going into."

I think someone who has been fooled in the past is a good candidate. He's got something to prove, so he won't be fooled a second time, expect him to be effective, not abrasive.

Preventing the further proliferation of weapons of mass destruction 19 February 2001