'Devastating' Secret Papers Reveal Pre-War Iraq Warnings

Fri 17 Sep 2004
'Devastating' Secret Papers Reveal Pre-War Iraq Warnings
By Jon Smith, Political Editor, PA News
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm

The Government came under renewed fire tonight after claims that Prime Minister Tony Blair was warned before the war in Iraq of the scale of the task that would face British and other coalition troops after Saddam Hussein was toppled.

Papers marked "Secret and Personal" detailing warnings from the Foreign Office to the premier were leaked to The Daily Telegraph.

No 10 had no immediate comment on the claims that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had written to Mr Blair a year before the conflict saying post-war Iraq would pose major problems.

"There seems to be a larger hole in this than anything," said Mr Straw, according to the Telegraph.

Other papers warned of the dangers of successive military coups in Iraq after Saddam was toppled and said ousting Saddam was seen as "unfinished business" from the Gulf War of 1991.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell said: "If these documents are accurate they provide a devastating insight into the political run up to war in Iraq.

"They demonstrate that the Government agreed with the Bush administration on regime change in Iraq more than a year before military action was taken.

"The justifications offered on many occasions to Parliament and the public that the issue was one of WMD are shown to be a mechanism designed to get round the legal obstacles in international law against the removal of Saddam Hussein.

"The British Government has not come clean and been frank with the British people, either about regime change or the long term troop commitment which would result if Saddam was removed.

"It is hardly surprising that the Government has resisted any form of inquiry which would allow scrutiny of the actions of ministers or officials.

"Iraq has become a question of trust. There is ample material in these documents to show why the Government has lost so much."