Iraq inquiry: Claire Short says UK cabinet misled on war legality

Source: BBC

Tony Blair's cabinet was "misled" into thinking the war with Iraq was legal, ex-International Development Secretary Clare Short has told the UK's inquiry. She said she was now "shocked" by the advice Attorney General Lord Goldsmith had given them shortly before the war. Mr Blair "and his mates" decided war was necessary, and "everything was done on a wing and a prayer", she added.

In her evidence to the Iraq inquiry, during which she was highly critical of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, she said the cabinet had not been a "decision-making body" and called Parliament a "rubber stamp".

In the week before war Lord Goldsmith ruled that a second resolution was not necessary for military action to be legal, in a definitive statement circulated at cabinet shortly before the war began. Ms Short said there was no suggestion given that he had had any legal doubts, and said that any discussion of the legal advice was halted at that pre-war cabinet meeting.

In light of Lord Goldsmith's "doubts and his changes of opinion" that have since emerged, Ms Short added: "I think for the attorney general to come and say there's unequivocal legal authority to go war was misleading."


Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8492526.stm

"Everybody knows that is untrue - that he had absolutely links, no sympathy, al-Qaeda were nowhere near Iraq until after the invasion and the disorder that came from that. "

From the above link.

That story has the hearing streamed live too. Clare Short is giving some very entertaining and insightful revelations.

K&R

Generally speaking you can't stream our normal BBC live news service unless they've changed it of late to allow you to so. Maybe its just that they've put this out on their world news service. :shrug:

On the page your looking at are there any adverts ?

There's one ad with Lance Armstrong selling an energy potion.

Link had 1:05 minutes of Claire Short testimony.

-jim

Our home site cannot carry adverts - would be illegal due to the Royal Charter under which they operate as a public corporation.

Apart from that, trust me , we don't use US$ here ! :)

:hi:

Which is http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/">streaming it live worldwide, as you most probably know already.

Could be just a one off.

I'm an expat in Indonesia and news clips are viewable but we can't stream the live news. We get BBC World News via satellite, which is similar to BBC News 24 but with much more of a global focus. Our satellite provider, Indovison, have just started broadcasting Sky News as well.

which these days seem to be quicker getting news up on their ticker and also more with it than the BBC. Don't be put off by the fact Murcoch owns Sky - it's nothing like Fux news. Can you get Al Jaz English too and the Russian one ?

Is only the BBC's live news which is unsanitised and worth watching. I follow it on a computer when I can't be bothered to walk downstairs and watch TV. :)

The Russian one has just been added, as has Faux news, much to my disdain. We also get CNN International, CNBC Asia and Euronews. It's quite a wide spectrum of news, which is great (apart from Faux & CNBC, of course). I agree, Sky is quite good but a lot of the news is UK focused, whereas BBC World News is more "worldly".

One of my fave channels we get is BBC Knowledge which has shows like Top Gear, Horizon, Ray Mears, Dragon's Den, Secret Millionaire etc etc.

They've actually got quite a good website, if you're curious... http://singapore.bbcknowledge.com/


:hi:

That's 'cause they sent him to US to change his mind.

from the OP (and from Goldsmith's own testimony):


The attorney general provisionally advised Mr Blair in January 2003 that it would be unlawful to invade Iraq without a further United Nations Security Council resolution.

But he changed his mind a month later after being persuaded to talk to senior US government lawyers and Britain's ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock.

(end snip)

They rendered him to the US to be "leaned on." Condi's name came up last week.

Not...one...word...in the US MEdia. Not one word on KO or Rachel. Even though this inquiry has no teeth, there is some rather stunning evidence popping up that I have no doubt could be used in the future if only someone had the courage to fight evil. Instead, we must endure the latest Edwards sex tape as if it were newsworthy. (end of rant)

There doesn't appear to be any news of the enquiry on any newspaper websites, either.

“The Cabinet weren't interested in becoming part of the legal debate"

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article7007039.ece

as Claire Short made clear this morning. I wouldn't even believe Blair's name if he said it to me cos he never knows when to stop lying.

just the general statement.

:hi:

Source: Telegraph UK

Iraq inquiry: Tony Blair ‘lied’ and misled Parliament, claims Clare Short
Tony Blair 'lied' to his Cabinet and misled Parliament over the war in Iraq, Clare Short, the former international development secretary has said.


By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent
Published: 2:10PM GMT 02 Feb 2010


Giving evidence before the Chilcot Committee into the war, she repeatedly accused the former prime minister of personally “misleading” and “conning” her, and of being “deceitful” with Cabinet, Parliament, and the public.

Miss Short claimed that Mr Blair broke the ministerial code by misleading Parliament, and accused Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney general who gave the “green light” to war, of failing to tell the Cabinet the truth of his reservations about the legality of an invasion.

“I think he misled the Cabinet,” she said. “He certainly misled me. I think for the Attorney General to come and say there's unequivocal legal authority to go war was misleading."

When she tried to ask questions in Cabinet, Miss Short was “jeered” at, and Mr Blair told her to “be quiet”.


Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/7137863/Iraq-inquiry-Tony-Blair-lied-and-misled-Parliament-claims-Clare-Short.html

used his privileged access to classified information to deceive Dem lawmakers into supporting Bush on Iraq.

Too bad for history that so many Dems prefer to ignore the fact that Bush's TOP SALESMAN on Iraq was Bill Clinton. Much easier to blame Lieberman whose big crime was being on the exact same page as Clinton.....and Blair....and Bush.

I know it would be paramount to bring these liars and criminals to justice, but will it be done? Perhaps the British have the wherewithal to do so with Blair and Co., but what about the true enablers, Bush and Cheney? Will they ever see the inside of a courtroom?

Or is this just "business as usual?"

I think we need to consider what effect this will have on society and civilization, particularly with regard to future generations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_Short

I admired her for resigning over the Iraq War.

I cheered her for exposing wire-tapping at the UN.

What a HERO she is to me!

snip>
On 26 February 2004 Short alleged on the BBC Today radio programme that British spies regularly intercept UN communications, including those of Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General.<19> The claim was made the day after the unexplained dropping of whistleblowing charges against former GCHQ translator Katharine Gun. Reacting to Short's statement, Tony Blair said "I really do regard what Clare Short has said this morning as totally irresponsible, and entirely consistent ." Blair also claimed that Short had put UK security, particularly the security of its spies, at risk.<20> The same day, on the BBC's Newsnight programme, Short called Blair's response "pompous" and said that Britain had no need to spy on Kofi Annan. Blair did not explicitly deny the claims but Robin Cook, former Foreign Secretary, wrote that in his experience he would be surprised if the claims were true.

A few days later (on 29 February 2004) Short appeared on ITV's Jonathan Dimbleby programme. She revealed that she had been written to by Britain's senior civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Andrew Turnbull. Turnbull's confidential letter (which Short showed to Dimbleby, and which was quoted on the programme) formally admonished her for discussing intelligence matters in the media, and threatened "further action" if she did not desist from giving interviews on the issue. Turnbull wrote that she had made claims "which damage the interests of the United Kingdom", and that he was "extremely disappointed". The "further action" referred to in the letter has been interpreted as threatening either the removal of Short's status as a Privy Counsellor or to legal action under the Official Secrets Act. Either course of action would be without recent precedent; the last time a Privy Counsellor's status was revoked was in 1921 when Sir Edgar Speyer was accused of collaborating with the Germans during the First World War. However, on 1 March 2004, Tony Blair's official spokesman refused to rule out such a step.

However in the same interview on the Jonathan Dimbleby programme, Short backtracked on her claim about British agents bugging Annan. She admitted that the transcripts she saw of Annan's private conversations might have related to Africa and not to Iraq. Asked whether she could confirm that the transcripts related to Iraq, she said: "I can't, but there might well have been ... I cannot remember a specific transcript in relation, it doesn't mean it wasn't there." Short also admitted that her original claim, on the Today programme, that Britain had eavesdropped on Annan may have been inaccurate. Asked whether the material could have passed to the British by the Americans, she said: "It could. But it normally indicates that. But I can't remember that."<21> <unsnip

be quiet."

Better late than never on this, and I applaud their efforts so far.

And look at that, their government hasn't fallen apart, nor have their clocks stopped ticking. Sure are risky folks over there, not focusing on looking forward!