Iraq War Inquiry website deletes memo

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161252.html


In yet another blow to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's credibility, the Chilcot Inquiry into the war on Iraq has released several declassified documents which open the door to quite serious evidence about the build-up to the US-led invasion of the country.

The Iraq War Inquiry has found out that the private secretary at No 10 routinely deleted any mention of Blair's correspondence with the US President Bush from the government minutes at the time.

Meanwhile, it was reported that after talks with Blair, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell has refused to declassify the letters, written in the run-up to the 2003 invasion between Bush and Blair.

One of the declassified documents and the most important one, maybe, was the transcript of the minutes of a private hearing attended by former chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee, Sir John Scarlett, and former chief of the assessment staff, Julian Miller.

Scarlet has admitted his team were 'bulldozed' into drawing conclusions about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction 'by the military time-table' which created a rush to war.

This document was immediately deleted from the list of the released declassified documents, but to our readers' fortune we managed to download a copy of the transcript which is attached to this article.

You can download the file here
http://217.218.67.244:8181/video/britain/ScarlettandMiller-2010-05-05-1.pdf

If link doesn’t work contact me and I will send a pdf file.

Tony Blair's remarks at Chilcot Inquiry

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161271.html


Tony Blair's remarks on his second appearance at Chilcot Inquiry have sparked different reactions across the political spectrum.

Followings are summarized version of his remarks.

On UN resolution

America and England had tried to obtain the second UN resolution. Chile and Mexico "caught between a rock and a hard place" since they wanted to give a support but France had warned a veto. French had informed that they would veto any resolution. Then American/French relationship had turned into "very scratchy" relation.

On complying with the UN resolutions

France asserted that Saddam Hussein had toed the line partly with weapons inspectors. However, it was not wise to permit the weapons inspectors the further time as Saddam was not straight about complying with the UN resolutions.

On Saddam Hussein

The Iraqi president Saddam had made the threats of killing the families of who complied with weapons inspectors. This is not considered as a logical compliance.

The Former Prime Minister said that Saddam Hussein would probably be the president of Iraq if America and England had stepped back from Iraq.

On Goldsmith legal advice

Regarding his ignorance to the legal advice of Lord Goldsmith, his top adviser, Tony Blair has admitted that he wished he had welcomed Goldsmith's warning and he had been more engaged with the UN Resolution 1441.

On assuring Bush

Tony Blair had convinced American president George Bush to close the eyes to his own government's guidance. Blair had pledged the American president that Britain would support US in the invasion. Blair told Bush “You can count on us, but here are the issues and difficulties” which he later sketched out privately to President Bush.

On changing the Iraqi regime

The fact of changing the Iraqi regime was not considered as the UK policy Iraq but to deal with the WMD issue. The US president desired a change in the Iraqi regime.

On dealing with Iraq

The principal subject of the British cabinet had been the problems of Iraq. The Iraq threat had needed to be dealt with. The former Labour party leader has been proud of rooting out Saddam Hussein.

Tony Blair refuted the idea of preparing for the outcome of the Iraq war, saying that it was left to the American president.

On September 11

Tony Blair has argued that the Britain government had acted side by side with the American government after the terroristic attacks of September 11.

Blair deceived Britain into Iraq war

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/160727.html


Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had given false evidence to the parliament in the run-up to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, says a top former official.

Lord Goldsmith, Tony Blair's top legal advisor at the time, told the Iraq War Inquiry that the prime minister misled parliament by claiming that Britain could legally attack Iraq even without a United Nation's approval, British media reported.

In evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry, the former attorney general said, he had told Blair two month before the invasion that an attack on Iraq would not be legal without a fresh UN mandate.

But, Goldsmith said, the former Labor prime minister told the MPs in a statement on 15 January 2003 that there were “circumstances” in which an attack could be legal without UN approval.

"There are circumstances in which a [UN] resolution is not necessary, because it is necessary to be able to say in circumstances where an unreasonable veto is put down that we would still act," Blair said during the speech.

Lord Goldsmith said he believed that UN resolution 1441, which was passed in November 2002 and declared Iraq in “material breach” of its obligations to disarm, was not sufficient to sanction war by the UK and United States.

In the new evidence to the inquiry, Lord Goldsmith said in his statement that the phrasing of resolution 1441 was "problematic".

He was not actively consulted on the final drafting of the resolution after telling Blair in October that the text as it stood did not authorize the use of force.

"I was not being sufficiently involved in the meetings and discussions about the resolution and the policy behind it that were taking place at ministerial level”, said Goldsmith.

"Much of the later difficulties could have been avoided if my view had been sought on the drafts that were developed during the later stages of the negotiations, particularly bearing in mind the fact that I had not been persuaded that the early drafts achieved our objectives", he said.

The revelations will mount criticism of Blair, who will appear before the inquiry on Friday.

The reasons for the invasion of Iraq, as claimed by former US president George W. Bush and Tony Blair, were “to disarm Iraq of Weapons of Mass Destructions (WMDs)”.

The claims were revealed afterwards to be empty slogans as the invading governments failed to discover any kinds of WMDs and the US government later confirmed that there were not the weapons for which the US mobilized its allies and went for war.

The war on Iraq killed thousands of people, including more than 4,400 US troops, and devastated the country infrastructure to the extent that its reconstruction would takes many years while the consequences of the invasion would plague the Iraqi people forever.

Blair Iraq grilling sparks protests

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159477.html


Britain's anti-war activists are to launch protests as former Prime Minister Tony Blair returns to Iraq war inquiry for a fresh hearing in the coming weeks.

Campaigners, among them the members of the families that have lost loved ones in the war, will rally in central London in time with Blair's appearance at the Chilcot inquiry, which will be held sometime between January 18 and February 7.

The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), which has organized the protests, has also planned media briefings and street theatres against Blair's rush to war in Iraq based on a “sexed-up” dossier on the Middle Eastern country's weapons of mass destruction.

Tony Blair is believed to be grilled for a second time on the legality of the war in Iraq and the build-up to the invasion in 2003 along with 10 other former British officials including former foreign minister Jack Straw in the upcoming inquiry session.

Blair appeared before the investigative committee for the first time in January 2010 and the committee members now want him to answer questions regarding the new evidence that has come to light since then.

Based on documents declassified in June, Blair appeared to have ignored a warning by former attorney general Lord Goldsmith that invading Iraq would be illegal just one day before the Prime Minister secretly assured former US President George W. Bush of London's support for the invasion.

Goldsmith told Blair in January 2003 that the UN Security Council had not issued an “express authorisation” for resorting to a military option against Iraq.

Blix questions judgment behind Iraq war

Hans Blix, the former executive chairman of the UN weapons inspection team in Iraq, AP photo

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136443&sectionid=351021806

The former UN weapons inspector questions the judgment of Britain and the US in their decision to invade Iraq despite lack of evidence regarding the country's possession of WMD.

Hans Blix, the former executive chairman of the UN weapons inspection team in Iraq from March 2000 to June 2003, made the remarks on Tuesday while testifying at the independent Iraq Inquiry.

Blix said that he had initially thought Iraq had weapons of mass destructions, but when none were found upon the inspections, he warned the US and Britain that it was unlikely Saddam Hussein had illegal weapons, Reuters reported.

"What was really important was about this business of sites given, was that when we reported we did not find any WMD (weapons of mass destruction) they should have realized in Washington and London that their sources were poor," he added.

"What I question was the good judgment, particularly in [former US President George W.] Bush but also in [former British Prime Minister Tony] Blair's judgment," he added.

According to Blix, his concerns were ignored by Blair and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The former UN weapons inspector said that his team wanted to continue inspections, "But the military timetable did not permit that."
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2010 Jul 27

Hans Blix to appear at Iraq inquiry




Hans Blix has accused the US and UK of
dramatising intelligence on Iraq's weapons [EPA]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/07/201072775116884417.html

Hans Blix, the former head of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq, is to give evidence before a British public inquiry into the 2003 conflict.

The Swedish diplomat, who previously called the invasion a "tragedy" and "spectacular failure", is expected to speak about his tense relationships with former US and UK leaders in the run up to the war.

Blix revealed earlier this year that he had urged Tony Blair in the month before the invasion, to consider the possibility that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction.

He has also accused the UK and US governments of dramatising the limited intelligence on Iraq's weapons, saying: "The allied powers were on thin ice, but they preferred to replace question marks with exclamation marks".

Blix, who conducted inspections in Iraq from November 2002 to March 2003, had warned Saddam of "serious consequences" if he failed to co-operate with his team and comply with UN Security Council resolution 1441.

Retrospective Gloss

Earlier this year, Blair told the inquiry in London that Blix had been clear in his reports in the run-up to the war that Saddam was not complying with international demands.

"Hans Blix obviously takes a certain view now," he told the hearing.

"I have to say in my conversations with him then it was a little different."

Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary, also suggested that Blix may have applied a retrospective "gloss" to his actions at the time.

"There are some of those who were involved who sought to give an account of what they were saying at the time without gloss," he told the inquiry earlier this year.

"There are others who have sought to give an account of what they thought they were saying at the time with gloss, and I think the jury is out on which camp Dr Blix is in."

But critics of the war say that Blix should have been given more time to establish whether or not Saddam was hiding stocks of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

Blix is the first foreign witness to give evidence at a public hearing of the inquiry, though others have spoken to the five-member panel, headed by John Chilcot, a former civil servant, in private during visits to the US and France.

Blix to testify in Iraq war inquiry

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=130048§ionid=351020201



Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has been called to appear before Britain's Iraq war inquiry panel for a testimony which will shed more light on the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Along with Blix, the "Chilcot" inquiry has also called top military and political officials for giving testimonies before the five-member panel investigating Britain's role in the war and the subsequent conflict.

Authorities in the US and the UK used toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's alleged relationship with al-Qaeda and the supposed weapons of mass destruction in the country as arguments for invading Iraq. This is while no such weapons were ever found after the invasion.

Blix had earlier said that the Iraq war could have been avoided if his commission had been given more time for inspection.

Former head of Britain's domestic security service MI5 Eliza Manningham-Buller, former armed forces chiefs General Mike Jackson and Richard Dannatt will also appear before the inquiry scheduled to take place in London later in July.

The inquiry was launched last July and former UK Premiers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown appeared in its first round of hearings for questioning.

The upcoming session will be held as the inquiry panel is scheduled to report on the issue by the end of the year.

Blix Says Iraqi Blood on Bush, and Blair’s Hands

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=112928§ionid=351020201

Former IAEA chief Hans Blix condemns former US president George W. Bush and former British Premier Tony Blair for waging war in Iraq.

In an interview with the British newspaper, the Daily Mail, Blix censured former US and UK governments for having misled their nations by magnifying former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's alleged accumulation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

The alleged existence of such weapons was then used by the UK and the US governments as a pretext to launch the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Blix, who directed the then UN weapons inspection team, told the paper that Bush and Blair's obsession with Saddam's planned ouster led them to embark on a 'witch hunt' to bring down the former Iraqi leader.

"They were convinced they had their witch in front of them, and they searched for the evidence and believed it without critical examination," said Blix on Saturday.

"When you start a war which cost(s) thousands of lives you should be more certain than they were," added the former director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He also said that his counsel on the absence of WMDs in Iraq fell on deaf ears in the presence of Tony Blair.

"It would prove paradoxical and absurd if 250,000 troops were to invade Iraq and find very little," Blix had cautioned Blair ahead of the Iraq invasion.

"If the UK had really insisted then on the UN path being exhausted, they could have slowed the military build-up ... but that wasn't the case. They eventually had so much military in the [Persian] Gulf that they felt they had to invade," The 81-year-old former UN official went on to say.

Blix called the war "illegal" but expressed doubt that the retired leaders would be held accountable in a court of law.