HOON STICKS TO HIS GUNS

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-12985924,00.html ^

[gdyniawitawa]

HOON STICKS TO HIS GUNS

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has been justifying his role in a new controversy over the type of weapons Iraq was alleged to have possessed.

The claim - made before MPs were asked to vote for war - was that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.

Mr Hoon says he had known this related only to battlefield weapons, not missiles.

The Prime Minister told the Commons he had been unaware of this.

Appearing before the Defence Select Committee today, Mr Hoon said he had discovered the information because he had asked the Defence Ministry.

But he had not told the Prime Minister. "It was not a significant issue at the time. It was not a matter we discussed," he said.

Following the 45-minute claim, newspaper headlines like "45 minutes from doom" and "45 minutes from attack" appeared.Initially - Mr Hoon told the committee - he had not seen the headlines because he had been out of the country.

Later, he had not felt compelled to try to correct such headlines.

It was suggested to him that because the reports were not corrected the public was left under a "misapprehension for months".

Downing Street has accused the media of "revisionism" and attempting to "rewrite history" by exaggerating the importance of the 45-minute claim in the Iraq weapons dossier.

But Conservative leader Michael Howard said Mr Blair should consider his position.

He said: "The Prime Minister took us to war without bothering to ask a simple and obvious question.

"That question is whether the chemical and biological weapons he thought Iraq had could be used only on the battlefield, or put on the end of a missile to be fired at British troops in Cyprus.

"I cannot imagine a more serious dereliction of duty by a Prime Minister."

Last Updated: 13:13 UK, Thursday February 05, 2004

[Ancesthntr]

HOON STICKS TO HIS GUNS

Isn't that illegal in England?