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Mike F · 05-08-2005, 11:46 PM

The London Times has uncovered a British Document which revealed that as early as "July 2002... Blair... [had] already committed himself to supporting President George Bush’s plans for ousting Saddam [militarliy]"

One of the most startiling revelations is the discussion amongst top British officials of the need to establish political and legal support for a war by essentially fabricating evidence to support it

“If the political context were right, people would support regime change,” said Blair. He added that the key issues were “whether the military plan worked and whether we had the political strategy to give the military plan space to work”.

The political strategy proved to be arguing Iraq’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 “thin” as “Saddam was not threatening his neighbours and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran”.

Straw suggested they should “work up” an ultimatum about weapons inspectors that would “help with the legal justification”. Blair is recorded as saying that “it would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors”.

A separate secret briefing for the meeting said Britain and America had to “create” conditions to justify a war.

As reported here, following the publication of this story, 88 members of the US Congress sent an official letter to Bush "calling on President Bush to answer questions about a secret U.S.-UK agreement to attack Iraq"

From the letter:

As a result of this recent disclosure, we would like to know the following:

1) Do you or anyone in your Administration dispute the accuracy of the leaked document?

2) Were arrangements being made, including the recruitment of allies, before you sought Congressional authorization go to war? Did you or anyone in your Administration obtain Britain's commitment to invade prior to this time?

3) Was there an effort to create an ultimatum about weapons inspectors in order to help with the justification for the war as the minutes indicate?

4) At what point in time did you and Prime Minister Blair first agree it was necessary to invade Iraq?

5) Was there a coordinated effort with the U.S. intelligence community and/or British officials to "fix" the intelligence and facts around the policy as the leaked document states?

The signatories are seeking an inquiry.

05-08-2005, 11:46 PM	#2
Mike F Franchise Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Djibouti Exp:	The London Times has uncovered a British Document which revealed that as early as "July 2002... Blair... [had] already committed himself to supporting President George Bush’s plans for ousting Saddam [militarliy]" One of the most startiling revelations is the discussion amongst top British officials of the need to establish political and legal support for a war by essentially fabricating evidence to support it “If the political context were right, people would support regime change,” said Blair. He added that the key issues were “whether the military plan worked and whether we had the political strategy to give the military plan space to work”. The political strategy proved to be arguing Iraq’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 “thin” as “Saddam was not threatening his neighbours and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran”. Straw suggested they should “work up” an ultimatum about weapons inspectors that would “help with the legal justification”. Blair is recorded as saying that “it would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors”. A separate secret briefing for the meeting said Britain and America had to “create” conditions to justify a war. As reported here, following the publication of this story, 88 members of the US Congress sent an official letter to Bush "calling on President Bush to answer questions about a secret U.S.-UK agreement to attack Iraq" From the letter: As a result of this recent disclosure, we would like to know the following: 1) Do you or anyone in your Administration dispute the accuracy of the leaked document? 2) Were arrangements being made, including the recruitment of allies, before you sought Congressional authorization go to war? Did you or anyone in your Administration obtain Britain's commitment to invade prior to this time? 3) Was there an effort to create an ultimatum about weapons inspectors in order to help with the justification for the war as the minutes indicate? 4) At what point in time did you and Prime Minister Blair first agree it was necessary to invade Iraq? 5) Was there a coordinated effort with the U.S. intelligence community and/or British officials to "fix" the intelligence and facts around the policy as the leaked document states? The signatories are seeking an inquiry.