|
Blair accused of purposely overstating iraq threat { December 15 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121500054.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121500054.html
Britain's case for war in Iraq under fire
By Deborah Haynes
Reuters
Friday, December 15, 2006; 12:51 AM
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tony Blair's case for war in Iraq was dealt a fresh blow this week with the release of once-secret evidence from a former British diplomat who dismissed the threat of weapons of mass destruction.
Carne Ross, who was responsible for handling Britain's Iraq policy at the United Nations from 1998 to 2002, also accused the government of overstating the danger posed by Saddam Hussein's regime to support the invasion, according to written testimony given to an inquiry into the run-up to the March 2003 conflict.
"During my posting, at no time did HMG assess that Iraq's WMD (or any other capability) posed a threat to the UK or its interests," Carne wrote in evidence submitted to the Butler inquiry in June 2004, which was made public on Thursday.
"It was the commonly-held view among the officials dealing with Iraq that any threat had been effectively contained."
Ross said when the United States raised the topic of regime change he and others would argue against such a move, "primarily on the grounds that Iraq would collapse into chaos."
"With the exception of some unaccounted-for Scud missiles, there was no intelligence evidence of significant holdings of CW, BW or nuclear material," Ross said.
THREAT ASSESSMENT
Ross, who left his post in June 2002, also said he had asked colleagues at the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defense about the threat assessment in the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion.
"None told me that any new evidence had emerged to change our assessment; what had changed was the government's determination to present available evidence in a different light," Ross said.
He said he talked about this with government weapons expert David Kelly, who committed suicide in 2003 after being named as the source for a BBC story saying the case for the Iraq war had been exaggerated.
He also said Britain failed to crack down on Iraq when it was in breach of U.N. sanctions due to "inertia" in the Foreign Office and "the inattention of key ministers," adding such a move would have provided a real alternative to war.
The testimony had been kept secret because Ross said he feared he might face prosecution under the Official Secrets Act.
But the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, a body of lawmakers in the lower house of Parliament, published the evidence after seeking assurances from the Foreign Office, according to the Independent newspaper.
A comment was not immediately available from Blair's office.
Lord Butler's report, released in July 2004, absolved the prime minister of distorting intelligence but contradicted claims Iraq's banned weapons were ready for use and showed that vital caveats were dropped from the spies' assessments.
Ross resigned from the Foreign Office in September 2004. He has since founded Independent Diplomat, which offers advice to inexperienced governments and political groups.
© 2006 Reuters
|
|
