Blair caught out again over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction

[Aidoneus]

like a bad comedy act.. :eyes:

Blair caught out again over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction
By Julie Hyland
31 December 2003

Prime Minister Tony Blair has come under renewed attack for his support for the US-led war of aggression against Iraq, following a damning admission by Paul Bremer, US head of Iraq’s puppet Provisional Authority, that US and British troops have found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

Bremer has inadvertently caught Blair out in yet another lie over Iraqi WMDs.

During the course of an interview on ITV1’s Jonathan Dimbleby programme on December 28, Dimbleby asked Bremer whether the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) had unearthed “massive evidence” of clandestine laboratories capable of producing such weapons.

Bremer interjected, rejecting the claim as untrue. “I don’t know where those words come from but that is not what (ISG chief) David Kay has said,” he said.

“I have read his reports so I don’t know who said that,” he went on, accusing those responsible for making such misleading statements as being motivated by an antiwar agenda.

“It sounds like a bit of a red herring to me,” Bremer said. “It sounds like someone who doesn’t agree with the policy sets up a red herring then knocks it down.”

In fact, Blair himself made the claim during his televised Christmas message to British troops stationed in Iraq. In his adjective-laden remarks the prime minister had claimed, “The Iraq Survey Group has already found massive evidence of a huge system of clandestine laboratories, workings by scientists, plans to develop long range ballistic missiles.

“Now, frankly, these things weren’t being developed unless they were developed for a purpose.”

When told that the citation came direct from the prime minister, a clearly embarrassed Bremer sought to retract his previous admission. “There is actually a lot of evidence that had been made public,” he said, including “clear evidence of biological and chemical programmes, ongoing”.

The damage had already been done, however.

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/dec2003/dimb-d31.shtml