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BLAIR KNEW BUSH HAD NO POST-WAR IRAQ PLAN
NICHOLAS WATT, OBSERVER, UK - Tony Blair agreed to commit British troops
to battle in Iraq in the full knowledge that Washington had failed to
make adequate preparations for the postwar reconstruction of the
country. In a devastating account of the chaotic preparations for the
war, which comes as Blair enters his final full week in Downing Street,
key No 10 aides and friends of Blair have revealed the Prime Minister
repeatedly and unsuccessfully raised his concerns with the White House.
He also agreed to commit troops to the conflict even though President
George Bush had personally said Britain could help 'some other way'. The
disclosures, in a two-part Channel 4 documentary about Blair's decade in
Downing Street, will raise questions about Blair's public assurances at
the time of the war in 2003 that he was satisfied with the post-war
planning. In one of the most significant interviews in the program,
Peter Mandelson says that the Prime Minister knew the preparations were
inadequate but said he was powerless to do more.
'Obviously more attention should have been paid to what happened after,
to the planning and what we would do once Saddam had been toppled,'
Mandelson tells The Observer's chief political commentator, Andrew
Rawnsley, who presents the documentary.
'But I remember him saying at the time: "Look, you know, I can't do
everything. That's chiefly America's responsibility, not ours."'
Mandelson then criticises his friend: 'Well, I'm afraid that, as we now
see, wasn't good enough.'. . .
Blair's most senior foreign affairs adviser at the time of the war makes
clear that Blair was 'exercised' on the exact issue raised by the war's
opponents. Sir David Manning, now Britain's ambassador to Washington,
says: 'It's hard to know exactly what happened over the post-war
planning. I can only say that I remember the PM raising this many months
before the war began. He was very exercised about it.'
Manning reveals that Blair was so concerned that he sent him to
Washington in March 2002, a full year before the invasion. Manning
recalls: 'The difficulties the Prime Minister had in mind were
particularly, how difficult was this operation going to be? If they did
decide to intervene, what would it be like on the ground? How would you
do it? What would the reaction be if you did it, what would happen on
the morning after?
'All these issues needed to be thrashed out. It wasn't to say that they
weren't thinking about them, but I didn't see the evidence at that stage
that these things had been thoroughly rehearsed and thoroughly thought
through.'
On his return to London, Manning wrote a highly-critical secret memo to
Blair. 'I think there is a real risk that the [Bush] administration
underestimates the difficulties,' it said. 'They may agree that failure
isn't an option, but this does not mean that they will avoid it.'. . .
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Britain's envoy to the postwar administration in
Baghdad, confirms that Blair was in despair. 'There were moments of
throwing his hands in the air: "What can we do?" He was tearing his hair
over some of the deficiencies.' The failure to prepare meant that Iraq
quickly fell apart. Greenstock adds: 'I just felt it was slipping away
from us really, from the beginning. There was no security force
controlling the streets. There was no police force to speak of.'
The revelation that Blair was 'exercised' in private will raise
questions about his public assurances. The former Labor leader, Neil
Kinnock, told the program he was given a personal assurance by Blair
that he was satisfied by the preparations. 'I said to Tony, are you
certain?' Kinnock told the programme. 'And when he said: "I'm sure,"
that was a good enough reassurance.'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2104966,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=15
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PAPER: SECRET PLAN AFOOT FOR EUROPEAN SUPER STATE
GEOFF MARSH, DAILY EXPRESS, UK - Tony Blair wants to hand the European
Union radical new powers in his last act as Prime Minister, it emerged
today. The Prime Minister has welcomed controversial plans to bring back
the troubled EU constitution by the back door - totally bypassing the
need for public referendums on sweeping new powers for Brussels.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested ditching the name
"constitution" from the title and instead calling it an "amending
treaty" - to avoid having to seek the approval of voters. French and
Dutch voters rejected the original plan - which would hand Brussels the
power to represent individual countries at the UN and change national
laws - two years ago. . .
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "If Tony Blair thinks he
can hoodwink the British people by smuggling in the rejected EU
consitution under another name, he had better think again. He
underestimates the British people. They will see right through any
shabby stitch-up. . .
EU leaders gather in Brussels next Thursday, prepared to launch "an
intergovernmental conference" on the details of a new treaty if they can
agree the outline.
Neil O'Brien, director of the think-tank Open Europe, expressed surprise
that a "single legal personality" for the EU was still being considered.
It was an unpopular move already flatly rejected by the UK and would
not, he predicted, survive in any final deal.
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/9970
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BLAIR KNEW BUSH HAD NO POST-WAR IRAQ PLAN
NICHOLAS WATT, OBSERVER, UK - Tony Blair agreed to commit British troops
to battle in Iraq in the full knowledge that Washington had failed to
make adequate preparations for the postwar reconstruction of the
country. In a devastating account of the chaotic preparations for the
war, which comes as Blair enters his final full week in Downing Street,
key No 10 aides and friends of Blair have revealed the Prime Minister
repeatedly and unsuccessfully raised his concerns with the White House.
He also agreed to commit troops to the conflict even though President
George Bush had personally said Britain could help 'some other way'. The
disclosures, in a two-part Channel 4 documentary about Blair's decade in
Downing Street, will raise questions about Blair's public assurances at
the time of the war in 2003 that he was satisfied with the post-war
planning. In one of the most significant interviews in the program,
Peter Mandelson says that the Prime Minister knew the preparations were
inadequate but said he was powerless to do more.
'Obviously more attention should have been paid to what happened after,
to the planning and what we would do once Saddam had been toppled,'
Mandelson tells The Observer's chief political commentator, Andrew
Rawnsley, who presents the documentary.
'But I remember him saying at the time: "Look, you know, I can't do
everything. That's chiefly America's responsibility, not ours."'
Mandelson then criticises his friend: 'Well, I'm afraid that, as we now
see, wasn't good enough.'. . .
Blair's most senior foreign affairs adviser at the time of the war makes
clear that Blair was 'exercised' on the exact issue raised by the war's
opponents. Sir David Manning, now Britain's ambassador to Washington,
says: 'It's hard to know exactly what happened over the post-war
planning. I can only say that I remember the PM raising this many months
before the war began. He was very exercised about it.'
Manning reveals that Blair was so concerned that he sent him to
Washington in March 2002, a full year before the invasion. Manning
recalls: 'The difficulties the Prime Minister had in mind were
particularly, how difficult was this operation going to be? If they did
decide to intervene, what would it be like on the ground? How would you
do it? What would the reaction be if you did it, what would happen on
the morning after?
'All these issues needed to be thrashed out. It wasn't to say that they
weren't thinking about them, but I didn't see the evidence at that stage
that these things had been thoroughly rehearsed and thoroughly thought
through.'
On his return to London, Manning wrote a highly-critical secret memo to
Blair. 'I think there is a real risk that the [Bush] administration
underestimates the difficulties,' it said. 'They may agree that failure
isn't an option, but this does not mean that they will avoid it.'. . .
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Britain's envoy to the postwar administration in
Baghdad, confirms that Blair was in despair. 'There were moments of
throwing his hands in the air: "What can we do?" He was tearing his hair
over some of the deficiencies.' The failure to prepare meant that Iraq
quickly fell apart. Greenstock adds: 'I just felt it was slipping away
from us really, from the beginning. There was no security force
controlling the streets. There was no police force to speak of.'
The revelation that Blair was 'exercised' in private will raise
questions about his public assurances. The former Labor leader, Neil
Kinnock, told the program he was given a personal assurance by Blair
that he was satisfied by the preparations. 'I said to Tony, are you
certain?' Kinnock told the programme. 'And when he said: "I'm sure,"
that was a good enough reassurance.'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2104966,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=15
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PAPER: SECRET PLAN AFOOT FOR EUROPEAN SUPER STATE
GEOFF MARSH, DAILY EXPRESS, UK - Tony Blair wants to hand the European
Union radical new powers in his last act as Prime Minister, it emerged
today. The Prime Minister has welcomed controversial plans to bring back
the troubled EU constitution by the back door - totally bypassing the
need for public referendums on sweeping new powers for Brussels.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested ditching the name
"constitution" from the title and instead calling it an "amending
treaty" - to avoid having to seek the approval of voters. French and
Dutch voters rejected the original plan - which would hand Brussels the
power to represent individual countries at the UN and change national
laws - two years ago. . .
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "If Tony Blair thinks he
can hoodwink the British people by smuggling in the rejected EU
consitution under another name, he had better think again. He
underestimates the British people. They will see right through any
shabby stitch-up. . .
EU leaders gather in Brussels next Thursday, prepared to launch "an
intergovernmental conference" on the details of a new treaty if they can
agree the outline.
Neil O'Brien, director of the think-tank Open Europe, expressed surprise
that a "single legal personality" for the EU was still being considered.
It was an unpopular move already flatly rejected by the UK and would
not, he predicted, survive in any final deal.
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/9970
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