LONDON -- Reports in the British media this month based on documents indicating that President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair had conditionally agreed by July 2002 to invade Iraq appear to have blown over quickly in Britain. But in the United States, where the reports at first received scant attention, there has been a growing groundswell of indignation among critics of the Bush White House, who say the documents help prove the leaders made a secret decision to oust Saddam Hussein nearly a year before launching their attack, shaped intelligence to that aim, and never seriously intended to avert the war through diplomacy.
The documents, obtained by Michael Smith, a defense specialist writing for the Sunday Times of London, include minutes of a July 23, 2002, meeting of Blair and his intelligence and military chiefs, a briefing paper for that meeting, and a Foreign Office legal opinion prepared before the summit of Blair and Bush in Crawford, Texas, on April 6-7, 2002.
The picture that emerges from the documents is of a British government convinced of the United States wanting to go to war against Saddam Hussein and Blair, agreeing, subject to several specific conditions.
Since Smith's report was published May 1, Blair's Downing St. office has not disputed the papers' authenticity. A Blair spokesman asked about them Wednesday said the memo published May 1 added nothing of significance to the much-investigated record of the lead-up to the war.
No comments:
Post a Comment