Thursday, November 26, 2009
That tainted evidence
Whilst the media are concentrating on the latest revelations in the Iraq inquiry, that Tony Blair's view on regime change in Iraq "tightened" after a private meeting with President Bush in 2002, the more revealing stuff is here.
The Independent reports that intelligence showing that Saddam Hussein's WMD had been dismantled was received by the Government just days before Tony Blair sent troops into the country.
Senior Officials have told the Inquiry that Ministers were also given repeated warnings that intelligence gathered on Iraq's weapons programmes was unreliable. However, Mr Blair told the Commons that Saddam Hussein did have chemical and biological weapons as he prepared the way for the invasion in March 2003.
This evidence goes to the heart of the matter as to whether the country and the House of Commons were mislead about the reasons that we went to war. There is no doubt that the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein as the ruler of Iraq, but regime change was not the stated objective of the invasion. If it were then there would have been a wholly different dynamic and the United Nations and the House of Commons may not have been so compliant.
There are also questions of course about the fact that there was no exit plan. That was a major omission that has cost countless lives. No amount of spin can excuse those Labour and Conservative MPs who voted for this war.
The Independent reports that intelligence showing that Saddam Hussein's WMD had been dismantled was received by the Government just days before Tony Blair sent troops into the country.
Senior Officials have told the Inquiry that Ministers were also given repeated warnings that intelligence gathered on Iraq's weapons programmes was unreliable. However, Mr Blair told the Commons that Saddam Hussein did have chemical and biological weapons as he prepared the way for the invasion in March 2003.
This evidence goes to the heart of the matter as to whether the country and the House of Commons were mislead about the reasons that we went to war. There is no doubt that the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein as the ruler of Iraq, but regime change was not the stated objective of the invasion. If it were then there would have been a wholly different dynamic and the United Nations and the House of Commons may not have been so compliant.
There are also questions of course about the fact that there was no exit plan. That was a major omission that has cost countless lives. No amount of spin can excuse those Labour and Conservative MPs who voted for this war.
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And how about the secret protocol, hobbling the Chilcot Inquiry, which Nick Clegg exposed at PMQs yesterday?
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