The U.S. media always stops short of saying it. But England's media is now proclaiming Britain's entry and participation in the war in Iraq as "illegal". Reporting on the findings of the on going Chilcot inquiry, an official government commissioned investigation into Britain's role in the Iraq War, the Independent noted that Prime Minister Tony Blair's top law officer had advised Blair the invasion was in violation of international law eight months before troops were sent.
(Lord Goldsmith's) letter pointed out: (1) Although UN rules permitted "military intervention on the basis of self-defence, they did not apply in this case as Britain was not under threat from Iraq; (2) While the UN allowed "humanitarian intervention" in certain cases, that too was not relevant to Iraq; (3) It would be very hard to rely on earlier UN resolutions in the Nineties approving the use of force against Saddam.
But Mr Blair refused to accept Lord Goldsmith's advice and instead issued instructions for his long-term friend to be "gagged" and barred from cabinet meetings, the newspaper claimed. Lord Goldsmith apparently lost three stone, and complained he was "more or less pinned to the wall" in a No 10 showdown with two of Mr Blair's most loyal aides, Lord Falconer and Baroness Morgan. Mr Blair also allegedly failed to inform the Cabinet of the warning, fearing an "anti-war revolt".
The Chilcot inquiry only began last week, and has already disclosed enough information to altogether sink Tony Blair's reputation. In addition to ignoring the advice of Lord Goldsmith, the inquiry has found evidence that British spies had reported ten days before the U.S. and British invasion that Iraq had previously disassembled its chemical and biological weapons and was also without the warheads to deliver such weapons of mass destruction.
Testimony before the inquiry has also made clear that the Bush Administration's decision to invade Iraq, regardless of United Nations resolutions and the UN weapons inspectors scouring Iraq for WMD capabilities, was made a full year prior to the invasion and Tony Blair considered any protest "a complete waste of time".
The Chilcot inquiry is expected to end with a report to the British government in 2010. It's likely any call for accountability will go unheeded for the same reasons a similar report would face in the U.S. - too many hands in both political parties are dirty.
At least the British are asking the questions.
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