ROFL..... More leaks.... Some very interesting stories in the Sunday papers
From today's Sunday Times:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...592904,00.html
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Originally Posted by The Sunday Times
May 01, 2005
Blair hit by new leak of secret war plan
Michael Smith
A SECRET document from the heart of government reveals today that Tony Blair privately committed Britain to war with Iraq and then set out to lure Saddam Hussein into providing the legal justification.
The Downing Street minutes, headed †œSecret and strictly personal ††UK eyes onlyââ‚ ¬Ã‚ÂÂ, detail one of the most important meetings ahead of the invasion.
It was chaired by the prime minister and attended by his inner circle. The document reveals Blair backed †œregime changeÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã‚Â by force from the outset, despite warnings from Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, that such action could be illegal.
(snip)
It records a meeting in July 2002, attended by military and intelligence chiefs, at which Blair discussed military options having already committed himself to supporting President George Bushâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s plans for ousting Saddam.
†œIf the political context were right, people would support regime change,ââ‚à ‚¬Ã‚ said Blair. He added that the key issues were †œwhether the military plan worked and whether we had the political strategy to give the military plan space to workââ‚ ¬Ã‚ÂÂ.
The political strategy proved to be arguing Iraqââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) posed such a threat that military action had to be taken. However, at the July meeting Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, said the case for war was †œthin⠃¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚ as †œSaddam was not threatening his neighbours and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iranââ‚ ¬Ã‚ÂÂ.
Straw suggested they should †œwork upâ₠¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ an ultimatum about weapons inspectors that would †œhelp with the legal justificationâ↚¬ÂÂÂ. Blair is recorded as saying that †œit would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectorsââ ¬ÂÂÂ.
A separate secret briefing for the meeting said Britain and America had to †œcreateà€ conditions to justify a war.
(snip)
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Plus there's also:
Blair planned Iraq war from start
(related story)
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Originally Posted by The Sunday Times
For the secret documents ††seen by The Sunday Times ††reveal that on that Tuesday in 2002:
# Blair was right from the outset committed to supporting US plans for †œregime changeÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã‚Â in Iraq.
# War was already †œseen as inevitableââ ¬ÂÂÂ.
# The attorney-general was already warning of grave doubts about its legality.
Straw even said the case for war was †œthin⠃¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚ . So Blair and his inner circle set about devising a plan to justify invasion.
(snip)
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And the *very* interesting leaked memo itself...definitely worth a read! -
"The secret Downing Street memo"
Menawhile, over at the Sunday Indy...
"Revealed: documents show Blair's secret plans for war"
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Originally Posted by Independent on Sunday
PM decided on conflict from the start. Blair told war illegal in March 2002. Latest leak confirms Goldsmith doubts
By Raymond Whitaker, Andy McSmith and Francis Elliott
01 May 2005
Tony Blair had resolved to send British troops into action alongside US forces eight months before the Iraq War began, despite a clear warning from the Foreign Office that the conflict could be illegal
(snip)
....At the same time, a document obtained by this newspaper reveals the Foreign Office legal advice given to Mr Blair in March 2002, before he travelled to meet Mr Bush at his Texas ranch. It contains many of the reservations listed nearly a year later by the Attorney General in his confidential advice to the Prime Minister, which the Government was forced to publish last week, including the warning that the US government took a different view of international law from Britain or virtually any other country.
The advice, also put before the July meeting, was drawn up in part by Elizabeth Wilmshurst, the Foreign Office's deputy legal adviser, who resigned on the eve of war in protest at what she called a "crime of aggression".
(snip)
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Very juicy stuff. Plus these leaks contain more ammo IMO for the case alleging that Blair lied & misled.
Wonder who's leaking all this?
And finally, an interview with Admiral Sir Michael Boyce:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/polit...474276,00.html
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Originally Posted by The Observer
Antony Barnett and Martin Bright
Sunday May 1, 2005
The Observer
The man who led Britain's armed forces into Iraq has said that Tony Blair and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, will join British soldiers in the dock if the military are ever prosecuted for war crimes in Iraq.
In a remarkably frank interview that goes to the heart of the political row over the Attorney General's legal advice, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, the former Chief of the Defence Staff, said he did not have full legal cover from prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
'If my soldiers went to jail and I did, some other people would go with me,' said Boyce.
In his most detailed explanation yet of why he demanded an unequivocal assurance from lawyers that the war was legal, he said: 'I wanted to make sure that we had this anchor which has been signed by the government law officer ...
'It may not stop us from being charged, but, by God, it would make sure other people were brought into the frame as well.'
Pressed by The Observer on whether he meant the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, Boyce replied: 'Too bloody right.'
(snip)
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Little bit from the same story, later on, about Goldsmith's opinion being shaped....
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Originally Posted by The Observer
An Observer investigation into the legal ramifications of the war also reveals that Goldsmith's advice authorising war was shaped after meeting the five most powerful Republican lawyers in the Bush administration, in February 2003.
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