Posted on 07/15/2004 12:10:15 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
AN official British inquiry yesterday lambasted the state of pre-war intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
But the inquiry found Prime Minister Tony Blair had not deliberately misled the nation into going to war.
Mr Blair immediately accepted responsibility for any mistakes, but insisted the US-led war to remove Iraqi president Saddam Hussein last year had been justified.
"Iraq, the region, the wider world is a better and safer place without Saddam," he said.
Mr Blair said that while it seemed "increasingly clear" Saddam might not have had weapons of mass destruction ready to deploy before the war, that did not make the conflict wrong.
The report from a panel headed by former top civil servant Lord Robin Butler found Britain joined the war based on evidence that was at times seriously flawed and unreliable.
A government dossier on WMDs, published in September 2002, showed "no evidence of deliberate distortion or of culpable negligence", the inquiry concluded.
But the 196-page re port, seen as crucial to the future of Mr Blair as Prime Minister, contained serious rebuffs.
The most notable concluded that Iraq almost certainly did not have significant stocks of WMDs before the war.
Voters in two cities get an early chance to pass judgment on the report.
Birmingham and Leicester South, Labour Party strongholds with large Muslim communities, will today vote in by-elections which will test the waters ahead of a probable general election next year.
The local all news radio station "reported" that this report was "blistering." It seems to be anything but.
And, the network affiliation of that radio station?????
Yup. You knew it already; CBS.
"The most notable concluded that Iraq almost certainly did not have significant stocks of WMDs before the war. "
Can someone please tell me how much is a significant amount in terms of human life? If one sarin shell can kill 25000 in a NY subway is that considered a significant loss of life?
Maybe a shell can get brought to Boston for the convention. After it explodes they can all blame Bush for allowing WMD to leave Iraq.
No fault screw-ups.
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