Underblog.co.uk

There’s been several stories recently about the dubious nature of the legal advice produced by the UK’s Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, in the run-up to war. Much of this has been sparked by Philippe Sands QC’s recent book, Lawless World. I’ve tried to put together a timeline to summarise what’s emerged so far. It’s by no means comprehensive, but shows how Goldsmith was leaned on, and how his advice changed as a result of that pressure.

November 2001: George Bush asks Donald Rumsfeld to review U.S. war plans for Iraq.

7th-8th April 2002: Blair meets Bush at his Texas ranch. Downing Street dismisses suggestions that the summit is a “council of war”.

9th April 2002: Foreign Office press release in the name of Jack Straw condemns Israel for failing to comply with UN resolutions, demanding that Israel “respect international law”, and quoted Sir Jeremy Greenstock (then Britain’s ambassador to the UN): “the political and moral authority of the UN is not to be cast aside lightly”.

Spring of 2002: The government seeks advice about the legality of invading Iraq as the result of “statements made in a particular press release”, according to documents recently leaked to The Independent. This is despite Blair telling cabinet, on his return from Crawford, that “the time to debate the legal basis for our action should be when we take that action”.

September 2002 - February 2003: The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, lets it be known that he cannot sanction military action without specific United Nations approval. He indicates that resolution 1441 is not sufficient. Blair instructs him not to declare this position formally, and tells cabinet “I’ll ask him when I have to, and not before.”

From November 2002: Foreign Office lawyers, led by Michael Wood, are united in the opinion that a second UN resolution is a legal requirement. Lord Goldsmith indicates to them that he shares this view.

Into 2003, Blair continues to insist in public that war is not inevitable.

February 2003: Goldsmith sent to Washington to meet members of the US administration. An official would later tell Philippe Sands “We had trouble with your attorney; we got him there eventually.”

February - March2003: Goldsmith tells lawyer friends that his position is impossible. He wonders out loud whether he should stay in his job.

5th Marth 2003: Robin Cook meets Blair, and tells him “It’s clear from the private briefing I have had that Saddam has no weapons of mass destruction in a sense of weapons that could strike at strategic cities”. Blair does not disagree.

Pages: 1 2

This entry was posted on Monday, February 28th, 2005 at 11:41 and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.