On March 20, 2003, the Multinational Coalition Forces, formed under the leadership of the United States and Britain, launched a military attack on Iraq on the grounds of possession of chemical weapons.
Brazilian diplomat Jose Bustani was the first president of the Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which was set up to detect and destroy chemical weapons a year before the invasion of Iraq.
Shortly before the occupation of Iraq began, Bustani's second term in office was unexpectedly terminated in March 2002. Bustani was removed from the post when the United Nations proposal for the United Nations was approved by 7 to 48 votes. Even thought Bustani was elected for the second term 11 months ago.
While the US government blamed "problems of mismanagement, polarization and confrontational behavior" as key reasons for Boustani's ouster, the administration of President George W. Bush was in clear disagreement with the efforts of the Brazilian diplomat for Iraq to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention, and international pre-invasion inspections. Because it was the basic argument of the US-led coalition that occupied Iraq in 2003, claiming that there were chemical weapons in Iraq.
Speaking to the BBC, Bustani said, "Both Iraq and Libya agreed to join the treaty, and the inspection could have taken place by November 2002. But if the inspectors were allowed to enter Iraq, they would not find weapons," he said. "The Americans wanted to invade Iraq, but the inspection was contrary to their interests. The inspectors would not be able to find chemical weapons and at least they [Americans] had to show other arguments as a reason for the occupation," he added.
John Bolton, who was appointed as National Security Advisor by US President Donald Trump in the past days, said he was the lead person in taking Bustani out of office.
"Bolton was an active element in my removal from office, and once he came to my office to ask me to resign or I would face the consequences," he said. "My children were studying in the United States."
Bolton was the US ambassador to the United Nations during the invasion of Iraq and was one of the most prominent adopters of the idea of invasion, and was a rival to Bustani in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
After all, 15 years after the occupation of Iraq, all investigations revealed that there were no chemical weapons in the country, and the US embraced this argument to invade Iraq. (ILKHA)