Oh, what a tangled web we weave:
The Government’s case for going to war in Iraq has been torn apart by the publication of previously suppressed evidence that Tony Blair lied over Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.
A devastating attack on Mr Blair’s justification for military action by Carne Ross, Britain’s key negotiator at the UN, has been kept under wraps until now because he was threatened with being charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act.
In the testimony revealed today Mr Ross, 40, who helped negotiate several UN security resolutions on Iraq, makes it clear that Mr Blair must have known Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction. He said that during his posting to the UN, “at no time did HMG [Her Majesty’s Government] assess that Iraq’s WMD (or any other capability) posed a threat to the UK or its interests.”
Mr Ross revealed it was a commonly held view among British officials dealing with Iraq that any threat by Saddam Hussein had been “effectively contained”.
He also reveals that British officials warned US diplomats that bringing down the Iraqi dictator would lead to the chaos the world has since witnessed. “I remember on several occasions the UK team stating this view in terms during our discussions with the US (who agreed),” he said.
“At the same time, we would frequently argue when the US raised the subject, that ‘regime change’ was inadvisable, primarily on the grounds that Iraq would collapse into chaos.”
[snip]
One member of the Foreign Affairs committee said: “There was blood on the carpet over this. I think it’s pretty clear the Foreign Office used the Official Secrets Act to suppress this evidence, by hanging it like a Sword of Damacles over Mr Ross, but we have called their bluff.”
Of course, as you know, this falls into the category of old news. And Tony Snow will correctly point out that Scott McClellan cleared this up eons ago.
I hope our soldiers don’t hold it against Tommy Franks that he made them wear all that chem-bio gear in the freaking desert…
Watch the power of ignoring big news make this one just disappear….
Tony Blair – the biggest disappointment in British Foreign Policy since Neville Chamberlin. The only difference, Chamberlin didn’t join a coalition with Germany when Hitler into Czechoslovakia.
No kidding. I confess that I just don’t get Tony Blair. I understand Bush — he’s a dumbass sock puppet for his advisors, much the same way Reagan was. But Blair, as far as I can tell, is an intelligent guy, whatever flaws might be. What the heck did he think he was going to get out of snuggling up to American neocons? As near as I can tell, the Brits got shafted from the get-go.
Totally. I remember, way back in the mists of time, being happy when Labor was elected and that stuffy prick, John Major, was gone.
Tony, Tony, Tony, what a disappointment.
I said thiings like this before the invasion, and I will say it again.
If you KNOW an enemy can target you form a certain distance you stay well outside of the range of their best weapons. The bushits were claiming WMD strapped to rockets… BUT … Why did the US military line up it’s soldiers in preperation for the invasion just a stones throw away from the Iraqi border?
Because they knew that there were no WMD to begin with.
If they had’em, know that the Generals would never have let their soldiers get that close to them pre-invasion. Not only did the White House know that there were no WMDs… But it must have been common knowledge amongst the entire military brass that planned this invasion.
In the Gulf War the American tanks would attack the Iraqi tanks from just outside the range of the Iraqi’s weapons. It is one of the most basic military tactics and startegies.
Never get within the enemy weapons range if you don’t have to.
And Iraq, obviously, didn’t have WMDs. Otherwise they would not have lined up our soldiers pre-invasion so close to the Iraqi border.
This isn’t rocket science. This is the most basic of military tactics that even a low-ranking grunt knows and understands.
Classifiying information as a state secret has become the favored way to suppress dissention.
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Tony would jump … a lots of BAE contracts at stake!
Lord Goldsmith consulted the prime minister, the defence secretary, foreign secretary, and the intelligence services, and they decided that “the wider public interest” “outweighed the need to maintain the rule of law”. Mr Blair said it would be bad for Britain’s security if the SFO was allowed to go ahead, according to the statement made in the Lords by Lord Goldsmith. The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the threat.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Aside from GW’s “victory” in 2004, I remain absolutely amazed that the Brits have put up with Tony for as long as they have. If the U.S. had their system, I believe Bush would have been thrown out of office no later than last summer in a vote of no confidence.
😀