It's all coming out
The couple of weeks just before a general election can be a horrifically boring time in British politics; generally, we hear the same tired old arguments about who is going to put more police on the street and nurses in hospitals being repeated ad nauseam.
Of course, there has been plenty of that in the last few days, but there have also been a large amount of information coming out about Iraq. Today, the Sunday Times has revealed a secret memo, circulated to only a few high-placed officials (and er, Alistair Campbell) from July 23rd 2002. It reveals the US military plan to engineer a war with Iraq.
"The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections...It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force...We should work on the assumption that the UK would take part in any military action."
Of course, the idea that 250000 troops just happened to be in Iraq when Saddam crossed the threshold of non-complicance and "forced" war on US/UK could never have been taken too seriously, even though Blair has been able to trot out this ludicrous chronology of events unchallenged in interviews in UK in the last couple of weeks. But this document confirms that the wildest of "conspiracy theories" so heavily denounced just before the invasion were in fact correct. It will be interesting to see how long the political fallout lasts; tomorrow is a bank holiday which means shorter evening news programmes, less detailed analysis pieces in newspapers and probably less interviews with top politicians. It could be Tuesday before this is really thrashed out, and people go to the polls on Thursday.
As for the likely consequences of all this focus on Iraq in the past week, James Blitz's column in Friday's FT seemed to sum it all up pretty well. Theyre going to win, but the majority could be cut to about 50 seats - meaning that Blair might have to hand over the reigns to his successor sooner rather than later. If this does happen, the 2009 election could be fascinating, with the possibility of a real 3-way race for government, something the country desperately needs.
Of course, there has been plenty of that in the last few days, but there have also been a large amount of information coming out about Iraq. Today, the Sunday Times has revealed a secret memo, circulated to only a few high-placed officials (and er, Alistair Campbell) from July 23rd 2002. It reveals the US military plan to engineer a war with Iraq.
"The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections...It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force...We should work on the assumption that the UK would take part in any military action."
Of course, the idea that 250000 troops just happened to be in Iraq when Saddam crossed the threshold of non-complicance and "forced" war on US/UK could never have been taken too seriously, even though Blair has been able to trot out this ludicrous chronology of events unchallenged in interviews in UK in the last couple of weeks. But this document confirms that the wildest of "conspiracy theories" so heavily denounced just before the invasion were in fact correct. It will be interesting to see how long the political fallout lasts; tomorrow is a bank holiday which means shorter evening news programmes, less detailed analysis pieces in newspapers and probably less interviews with top politicians. It could be Tuesday before this is really thrashed out, and people go to the polls on Thursday.
As for the likely consequences of all this focus on Iraq in the past week, James Blitz's column in Friday's FT seemed to sum it all up pretty well. Theyre going to win, but the majority could be cut to about 50 seats - meaning that Blair might have to hand over the reigns to his successor sooner rather than later. If this does happen, the 2009 election could be fascinating, with the possibility of a real 3-way race for government, something the country desperately needs.
posted by UK plc at 12:24 PM
1 Comments:
Yeah, Blair's downfall was touching the 'radioactive' GWB and hooking his wagon to the trumped up Iraq war. It's too bad because for the most part I have really liked TB. A 3way race is just what America needs too but I think you Brits have a better chance of seeing that then us corrupt yanks.
Post a Comment
<< Home