Blair caves in to calls for WMD inquiry into Iraq failures

Blair caves in to calls for
WMD inquiry into Iraq
failures

By Andrew Grice, Ben Russell and
Andrew Buncombe in Washington

03 February 2004
Tony Blair performed a hasty U-turn yesterday
when Downing Street announced an inquiry
into the intelligence about Saddam Hussein's
weapons of mass destruction on which he
took Britain to war in Iraq.
After months of resisting demands for an
investigation despite the failure to find any
WMD, the Prime Minister climbed down on the
day George Bush confirmed that an
independent commission would look into the
US intelligence on Saddam's arsenal. In
Britain, the inquiry is expected to be conducted by a committee of MPs and
peers, possibly with an independent chairman.
His officials denied that Mr Blair has been bounced into the move by
Washington's change of heart. They insisted he had always intended to ask
"valid" questions about intelligence after Lord Hutton's inquiry. But the timing
of the British investigation may have been advanced by President Bush's
decision, and there was confusion over the precise details last night as MPs
waited for the terms of reference.


more
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=487307


:evilgrin:

Queen of England. Tony, you're fired.

and done alongside Bush, not because Bliar is yet again being dragged behind him. According to the New Labour hardmen appearing everywhere to makes such claims, that is.

"Mr Blair's official spokesman said the decision arose after the Hutton report cleared the Government of allegations that it interfered with, falsified or hyped the intelligence on WMD."

What absolute rubbish. Hutton's evidence proved that he had interfered with and hyped the intelligence, which is tantamount to falsifying it. We all know it: only the Emperor still thinks we think he has clothes.

The delay in announcing this is, I bet, because the LibDems are demanding wider terms of reference. The last thing Bliar wants exposed is the extent to which the intelligence was politicised to make a case for war. His line is that Hutton dealt with that: I hope the LibDems are arguing as hard as they can that he most definitely did not. And when they don't get it, I hope they continue to press for a further investigation into the matter till the truth is finally dragged out of this lying government.

If this wasn't so serious, it would be laughable.