| President George W Bush and British Prime
Minister Tony Blairs? justification for the invasion of Iraq has
run up against what appears to be unintended scrutiny from an
unlikely source?Paul Bremer, head of the occupation forces in
Baghdad.
In an interview with London?s ITV-1, Bremer dismissed Blair?s
allegation that British and American weapons hunters had
unearthed "massive evidence of a huge system of clandestine
laboratories" in Iraq. The supposed danger from Saddam
Hussein's alleged WMD was central to the case for war in Iraq,
but despite months of work, the Iraq Survey Group, headed by
David Kay, has all but given up hope of finding them. Blair has
remained undaunted, insisting that the evidence would eventually
turn up, and told British troops in his Christmas message that
the information on laboratories showed Saddam had attempted to
"conceal weapons".
But when the claim was put to Bremer, he said it was not
true. Unaware that it had been made by Mr Blair, the American
proconsul said it sounded like a "red herring" put
about by someone opposed to military action to undermine the
coalition. He said "I don't know where those words come
from, but that is not what David Kay has said. I have read his
report, so I don't know who said that ... It sounds like someone
who doesn't agree with the policy sets up a red herring, then
knocks it down."
But when the interviewer told Bremer the statement was
actually made by Tony Blair, he changed his tune, saying
"There is actually a lot of evidence that had been made
public,", adding that the group had found "clear
evidence of biological and chemical programs ongoing ... and
clear evidence of violation of UN Security Council resolutions
relating to rockets".
This comes amid allegations from a former chief UN weapons
inspector, Scott Ritter, that MI6?the British intelligence
agency?ran a campaign designed to exaggerate Iraq's weapons of
mass destruction.
Ritter told reporters in the British House of Commons that he
was involved personally with Operation Mass Appeal between the
summer of 1997 until August 1998 when he resigned from the UN.
Ritter said the MI6 operation was designed to "shake up
public opinion" by passing dubious intelligence on Iraq to
the media. A spokesman for MI6 said the allegations were
"unfounded".
- Scott Ritter, former U.N. weapons inspector
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