I couldn't open that Blix interview either. What Keith says there doesn't sound consistent with what Blix has said on other occasions. Of course he might have modified his views - but I wonder if there might be a misunderstanding of what he said, with him expressing a hope that on balance it might turn out that the invasion didn't make things worse, or perhaps saying that for some people it did make things better.

For many people the invasion and its aftermath has undoubtedly made things even worse - for example it appears that the freedom of women to lead independent lives, or to dress as they choose has been greatly restricted, and the situation of religious minorities, notably Iraq's Christian ancient community, has got incomparably worse. For all its horrible aspects, Baathist Iraq was a secular, and in some ways a relatively open, society.