Two of the most respected politicians in England are now
gunning for Tony Blair because he told fibs about Iraqi WMDs to the House
of Commons. One is Robin Cook (Labour), the former Foreign Secretary, and
Kenneth Clarke (Conservative), a former Chancellor. The past Leader of
the House of Commons, Tony Benn (Labour), has called Tony Blair "a
liar". The Leader of the House of Commons, Tam Dalyell (Labour), has
called Tony Blair "a war criminal". (Coincidentally, and
surprisingly perhaps, given their socialist views, both of these are
aristocrats and related to past Peers of the Realm.) Tony Blair has said
not a word in reply to either.
This argument is bound to grow in the coming weeks as the non-truths for
the invasion are going to be exposed. I guess the same will happen in
America in due course as Rumsfeld digs himself into a deeper and deeper
hole. Or, should I say, a more and more convoluted hole?
The following is from today's The Independent:
<<<<
THE CASE FOR WAR IS BLOWN APART
Ben Russell and Andy McSmith
Kuwait City - 29 May 2003
Tony Blair stood accused last night of misleading Parliament and the
British people over Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, and his
claims that the threat posed by Iraq justified war.
Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, seized on a
"breathtaking" statement by the US Defence Secretary, Donald
Rumsfeld, that Iraq's weapons may have been destroyed before the war, and
anger boiled over among MPs who said the admission undermined the legal
and political justification for war.
Mr Blair insisted yesterday he had "absolutely no doubt at all about
the existence of weapons of mass destruction".
But Mr Cook said the Prime Minister's claims that Saddam could deploy
chemical or biological weapons within 45 minutes were patently false. He
added that Mr Rumsfeld's statement "blows an enormous gaping hole in
the case for war made on both sides of the Atlantic" and called for
MPs to hold an investigation.
Meanwhile, Labour rebels threatened to report Mr Blair to the Speaker of
the Commons for the cardinal sin of misleading Parliament -- and force
him to answer emergency questions in the House.
Mr Rumsfeld ignited the row in a speech in New York, declaring: "It
is . . . possible that they [Iraq] decided that they would destroy them
prior to a conflict and I don't know the answer."
Speaking in the Commons before the crucial vote on war, Mr Blair told MPs
that it was "palpably absurd" to claim that Saddam had
destroyed weapons including 10,000 litres of anthrax, up to 6,500
chemical munitions; at least 80 tons of mustard gas, sarin, botulinum
toxin and "a host of other biological poisons".
But Mr Cook said yesterday: "We were told Saddam had weapons ready
for use within 45 minutes. It's now 45 days since the war has finished
and we have still not found anything.
"It is plain he did not have that capacity to threaten us, possibly
did not have the capacity to threaten even his neighbours, and that is
profoundly important. We were, after all, told that those who opposed the
resolution that would provide the basis for military action were in the
wrong.
"Perhaps we should now admit they were in the right."
Speaking as he flew into Kuwait before a morale-boosting visit to British
troops in Iraq today, Mr Blair said: "Rather than speculating, let's
just wait until we get the full report back from our people who are
interviewing the Iraqi scientists.
"We have already found two trailers that both our and the American
security services believe were used for the manufacture of chemical and
biological weapons."
He added: "Our priorities in Iraq are less to do with finding
weapons of mass destruction, though that is obviously what a team is
charged with doing, and they will do it, and more to do with humanitarian
and political reconstruction."
Peter Kilfoyle, the anti-war rebel and former Labour defence minister,
said he was prepared to report Mr Blair to the Speaker of the Commons for
misleading Parliament. Mr Kilfoyle, whose Commons motion calling on Mr
Blair to publish the evidence backing up his claims about Saddam's
arsenal has been signed by 72 MPs, warned: "This will not go away.
The Government ought to publish whatever evidence they have for the
claims they made."
Paul Keetch, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said: "No
weapons means no threat. Without WMD, the case for war falls apart. It
would seem either the intelligence was wrong and we should not rely on
it, or, the politicians overplayed the threat. Even British troops who I
met in Iraq recently were sceptical about the threat posed by WMD. Their
lives were put at risk in order to eliminate this threat - we owe it to
our troops to find out if that threat was real."
But Bernard Jenkin, the shadow Defence Secretary, said: "I think it
is too early to rush to any conclusions at this stage; we must wait and
see what the outcome actually is of these investigations."
Ministers have pointed to finds of chemical protection suits and
suspected mobile biological weapons laboratories as evidence of Iraq's
chemical and biological capability. But they have also played down the
importance of finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Earlier this
month, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, provoked a storm of protest
after claiming weapons finds were "not crucially
important".
The Government has quietly watered down its claims, now arguing only that
the Iraqi leader had weapons at some time before the war broke
out.
Tony Benn, the former Labour minister, told LBC Radio: "I believe
the Prime Minister lied to us and lied to us and lied to us. The whole
war was built upon falsehood and I think the long-term damage will be to
democracy in Britain. If you can't believe what you are told by
ministers, the whole democratic process is put at risk. You can't be
allowed to get away with telling lies for political
purposes."
Alan Simpson, Labour MP for Nottingham South, said MPs "supported
war based on a lie". He said: "If it's right Iraq destroyed the
weapons prior to the war, then it means Iraq complied with the United
Nations resolution 1441."
The former Labour minister Glenda Jackson added: "If the creators of
this war are now saying weapons of mass destruction were destroyed before
the war began, then all the government ministers who stood on the floor
in the House of Commons adamantly speaking of the immediate threat are
standing on shaky ground."
>>>>
Keith Hudson, 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath, England
