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| Britain |
| Book: Britain’s Straw Had Doubts on War |
| 2003-09-15 |
| Days before the Iraq war began, Britain’s foreign secretary asked Prime Minister Tony Blair not to send British troops to the conflict, a new book alleges. Excerpts from "Blair’s Wars," published in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, claim Foreign Secretary Jack Straw urged Blair in a personal memo in March to tell President Bush that Britain would offer moral and political support for the conflict, but no combat troops. When a liberal in good standing shows doubt it’s a sign of their intelligence and sensitivity — means they really thought long and hard so the rest of us should STFU. Wonder if the Left will give Straw any consideration? Blair’s office and the Foreign Office said they had no comment on the claims. The author of "Blair’s Wars," political journalist John Kampfner, did not claim to have seen Straw’s memo, but stood by his allegation. "I have verbal evidence of that, but it certainly did happen," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.’s "Breakfast with Frost" program on Sunday. And if you can’t believe the BBC, who can you believe? Straw, a loyal ally of Blair, has never publicly expressed doubts about going to war. In the excerpt, Kampfner said that after receiving the memo, Blair "asked him to clarify whether or not he would support the war, now that it was definitely going to happen. Straw said he would." Good man — gave his best advice and then supported the plan. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #10 Another name for the "list" a la "Mikado". I volunteer to be a part! |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-9-15 2:47:09 PM |
| #9 Bulldog, I appreciate the UK updates even if I don't comment. I do check the BBC website from time to time. The "Have Your Say" section is always amusing. "Is Amerikkka a Threat or a Menace? Have Your Say!" |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-9-15 1:55:39 PM |
| #8 BD - This is great feedback - and the link is most welcome, too. Thx! TT pegged him as a climber (and the guy who made a splash on the Lynch story, then disappeared) and your confirmation puts his comments in perspective - which is invaluable and much appreciated. |
| Posted by: .com (Prez for Life - My Isles of Langerhans) 2003-9-15 12:55:33 PM |
| #7 Downing Street's not denying the memo was sent, and are claiming that what Straw was referring to was a fallback plan, in the event that Commons rebellion made sending forces politically impossible: "...Number 10 said the suggestion was only part of contingency plans in case the government lost the key Commons vote on military action in March. The prime minister's official spokesman said: "The foreign secretary remains as convinced today as he was when the decision was taken that military action was thoroughly justified, by Saddam Hussein's defiance of the United Nations, and that it was the right thing to do. I don't think people should be surprised if thought was being given in different parts of government to fallback options that might follow a negative vote in the Commons - but that's entirely different to having reservations about the policy." Mr Straw continued to believe military action was "thoroughly justified", said the spokesman, but it had been only sensible to plan to for what might have happened in the vote." Seems entirely plausible to me. Kampfner's definitely eyeing Gilligan's "most creative use of source material" mantle. The Telegraph have an article up now covering the Government response, too (they seem to be updating a lot more of their online version in real time now). Thanks for the comments, .com. I try to post what I think to be the most important stories from the UK and the view from here, when I can. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-9-15 12:00:26 PM |
| #6 Ain't 20/20 hindsight wonderful? |
| Posted by: Hiryu 2003-9-15 10:38:29 AM |
| #5 Tokyo Taro - Yep - that's the one. Good memory and good catch! From Google, I get the picture that this guy wants to be the ultra-anti-Blair (or whomever) "correspondent." You've got him pegged! |
| Posted by: .com (Prez for Life - My Isles of Langerhans) 2003-9-15 7:11:35 AM |
| #4 Isn't John Kampfner the same guy responsible for the BBC's Jessica Lynch travesty. You know, the one where they lied and manipulated the public on a story about how the penatgon and the American media lied to and manipulated the public. This guy is jealous of all the attention that Andrew Gilligan is getting. |
| Posted by: Tokyo Taro 2003-9-15 6:52:22 AM |
| #3 Of course the Beeb would delight in interviewing this asshat parasite - he's their kind of guy, see right there - Editorial Agenda item #1: Hurt Blair any way possible. Bulldog, after it has been digested, let us know the street "take" on this... Are people buying it and, if so, is it cuz they want it to be true or because the guy is credible? I haven't done my Google search, yet! BTW, great job posting lately! What you choose to post tells us a lot about what matters "over there!" Personally, I hope that Straw didn't do it - and rakes this Kampfner over the coals. If anyone should profit from a tell-all book here it's, uh, um, er, no one. |
| Posted by: .com (Prez for Life - My Isles of Langerhans) 2003-9-15 5:06:24 AM |
| #2 I heard from Fox that is was the " friend of a friend of mine" situation that he recieved the info from. |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-9-15 3:31:19 AM |
| #1 And as icing, he gets to tell his good friend Dom that he and his countrymen have a neurosis. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-9-15 2:22:08 AM |