Leaked secrets reveal chaos at heart of Blair's Iraq plans

[Owlet]

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1099432004

TONY Blair was facing a new Iraq crisis last night after explosive evidence emerged from within his own government that he was warned the country would be plunged into chaos after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

As the security situation in Iraq continued to deteriorate yesterday, with more bombings and pitched battles between coalition troops and insurgents, leaked documents revealed Blair was warned about potential chaos by advisers a year before war erupted.

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http://www.sundayherald.com/44911

BLAIR’S secrets are out, and this is what he knew a full year before the invasion of Iraq: the war was illegal, it would turn into a quagmire that could last for generations and it was more than likely that, once Saddam was overthrown, a new Iraqi government, even a democratic one, would start developing weapons of mass destruction.

These warnings were contained in a series of top-secret documents that Blair read and digested long before the invasion. It’s little wonder that Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, says these revelations are “the crown jewels”.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. So when is the Impeachment of PM Blair

(Yes they do have Impeachment too)

[asjr]

2. There should be dual impeachments. All the evidence is out.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. You think Delay will allow the bill to even

get to committee?

:-)

OTOH there is teh necesary political capital in the UK

[asjr]

4. Let's make it a threesome. Delay has to go!

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Agreed, they have to loose the House

Or I guarantee, a Kerry impeachment.

[grasswire]

5. unreal, just unreal

...to read the back story. The foreign minister thought that Blair could reign Bush in and be a mitigating force. Ha.

[Nite Owl]

6. This is such a huge story.

Bush lied about everything and now there is proof. Has this story even made our papers or tv news yet?

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. You are kidding me right

But we know all you ever wanted to know about Jacko and Kobe and Macaluklin

REAL NEWS? Are you kidding me?

Yes you can call me now Mrs Cynical

[leftchick]

11. sadly all of those pesky "focus groups" KNEW this...

so don't hold your breath. aWol* will never be held accountable for this. Has he EVER been held accountable for ANYTHING?

:grr:

[vogonity]

7. Falling apart

This is a big deal. UK politicians Are doing what they can to cover their own asses. They are much more likely to sell b* out than any US politicians.

[cal04]

10. they should sell out Bush and someone here

should definitely take a look at those documents



The highly confidential papers represent one of the most serious leaks Downing Street has ever had to confront - both because of the extremely restricted nature of their circulation and the embarrassment they may cause senior US figures named in the memos - and will prompt a major Whitehall mole hunt. Last night speculation was focusing on the Butler inquiry into the intelligence gathered in Iraq, which was given thousands of confidential documents detailing the run-up to war.


"This is the magic bullet," one senior anti-war Labour MP said last night. " We will force this issue on the agenda and that will skewer him. Iraq has blown up in the coalition's faces, but these documents show that they knew of the dangers all along and still went ahead."
The collection of documents leaked to the Daily Telegraph included secret personal memos sent to Blair by his chief policy adviser Sir David Manning, Straw and Peter Ricketts, policy director at the Foreign Office.

Most tellingly, Manning warned that President George Bush had no answers to big questions, such as "what happens on the morning after" the removal of a man identified as one of the world’s most potent security threats. The top-level assessments also posed the threat of a successor regime "reverting to type", turning into a dictatorship, and ultimately attempting to develop the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) presented as a key motive for the military action.

The most damaging passages concern British officials' widespread scepticism about the US case for invading, with one Cabinet Office briefing paper citing the success of the Afghanistan invasion, distrust of the UN and 'unfinished business from 1991' as factors.

The Prime Minister was also advised he would have to "wrong foot" Saddam into giving the allies an excuse for war, and that British officials believed Bush merely wanted to complete his father's "unfinished business" in a "grudge match" against Saddam. The excruciating revelations suggested Blair was aware of the Americans’ intention to force "regime change" in Iraq.He added: "The idea that we did not have a plan for afterwards is simply not correct. We did and we have unfolded that plan, but there are people in Iraq who are determined to stop us."


The documents flatter the Foreign Office, suggesting it accurately foresaw many of the problems now engulfing Iraq - plus some that never transpired, such as the imposition of a 'Sunni strongman' after a coup. Donald Anderson, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, yesterday praised Straw's 'great prescience'.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1307907,00.html

[Moderator]

12. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=835625