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Blair Under Scrutiny About Pre-War Dealings
SecurityProNews
Staff Writer
2005-04-25
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Election years play tough music for incumbents to face. For British Prime Minister Tony Blair, this year is no exception.
One of the more difficult melodies is coming from opposition parties regarding whether or not Blair ignored or pressured a restatement of British Attorney General Goldsmith's initial advice about the legality of the Iraq war.
This adds a nice crescendo to the suspicions that Blair and President Bush had agreed to declare war on Iraq in the spring of 2002, to be marketed later as seen fit.
The accusations ignited after British newspaper, Mail on Sunday, released information from a "leaked memo" written by the attorney general. Reportedly, the memo enumerated six doubts about the legality of going to war with Iraq.
The opinion was recanted nine days later, qualifying that the war was, in deed, legal. Some believe the change came under significant pressure from Tony Blair.
Chief accuser, Liberal Democrat peer, Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC, says news of the memo is important especially in relation to the timing an April 2002 visit to President Bush's ranch in Crawford, TX.
Said Lord Lester, "It has been alleged that when he went to the ranch and met President Bush he came back, both of them determined that we would go to war, but to find justification for doing so."
Blair dismissed the allegations as opposition party distractions from their own "hopeless" economic program.
Blair further denied any changes in memos from the attorney general, calling such a shift in opinion "strange" behavior.
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