Governments lie - and often aren't caught out. But sometimes things do leak out and people like those at WikiLeaks - thank goodness for them! - reveal the truth.
The Independent reports in "A gross media manipulation that has eroded public trust in Government" on how the Brits were duped by what was fed to them about the reason to go to war with Iraq - and other aspects surrounding that troubling period, including the role of what the BBC was reporting. Of course, at the forefront that chameleon - who the world for some odd reason takes any notice of - former PM Tony Blair.
"Nothing to add to evidence to inquiry. Dossier not case for war." (Alastair Campbell, Twitter, May 12 2011.) "Alastair Campbell said to the Inquiry that the purpose of the Dossier was "not to make a case for war". I had no doubt at the time that this was exactly its purpose...." (Major-General Michael Laurie's letter 0f 27.1.10 to the Chilcot enquiry, released on Thursday, 15 months later.)
You pays your money and you makes your choice. The Major-General's letter does, of course, remind us of what most of us knew already. The UK went to war in Iraq on the basis of a dud prospectus. The dossier that the Prime Minister used to convince the House of Commons and the country that the war was justified was based on flawed intelligence. Even more important, the political pressure brought to bear on the intelligence community to strengthen the dossier, in particular in relation to the 45-minute claim and the existence of weapons of mass destruction, was totally improper. Tony Blair's Introduction to the Dossier, in which he said: "What I believe the assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt is that Saddam has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons, that he continues in his effort to produce nuclear weapons, and that he has been able to extend the range of his ballistic missile programme," turned out to be totally misleading."
The Independent reports in "A gross media manipulation that has eroded public trust in Government" on how the Brits were duped by what was fed to them about the reason to go to war with Iraq - and other aspects surrounding that troubling period, including the role of what the BBC was reporting. Of course, at the forefront that chameleon - who the world for some odd reason takes any notice of - former PM Tony Blair.
"Nothing to add to evidence to inquiry. Dossier not case for war." (Alastair Campbell, Twitter, May 12 2011.) "Alastair Campbell said to the Inquiry that the purpose of the Dossier was "not to make a case for war". I had no doubt at the time that this was exactly its purpose...." (Major-General Michael Laurie's letter 0f 27.1.10 to the Chilcot enquiry, released on Thursday, 15 months later.)
You pays your money and you makes your choice. The Major-General's letter does, of course, remind us of what most of us knew already. The UK went to war in Iraq on the basis of a dud prospectus. The dossier that the Prime Minister used to convince the House of Commons and the country that the war was justified was based on flawed intelligence. Even more important, the political pressure brought to bear on the intelligence community to strengthen the dossier, in particular in relation to the 45-minute claim and the existence of weapons of mass destruction, was totally improper. Tony Blair's Introduction to the Dossier, in which he said: "What I believe the assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt is that Saddam has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons, that he continues in his effort to produce nuclear weapons, and that he has been able to extend the range of his ballistic missile programme," turned out to be totally misleading."
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