It
seems the truth will out. The intrigue, deceit and lies surrounding the
build up to war in Iraq continue to leak out. No sooner had the Hutton
whitewash absolved Blair – convincing no-one – and scapegoated the BBC,
than once more Radio 4’s Today programme delivers a devastating blow.
Former
Cabinet Minister Clare Short, who resigned over the war, astounded
presenter and listeners alike by candidly admitting that British
Intelligence had spied on UN officials including Secretary General Kofi
Annan, in the run-up to war. When asked to confirm that she was certain
about this Short replied that she had known about it whilst in the
government, “I know. I have seen transcripts of Kofi Annan’s
conversations” she said.
Their
purpose in spying was thought to have been to discover what progress
was being made in convincing waverers on the security council to
support a second resolution legitimising the invasion of Iraq. The UN
has condemned this spying operation as illegal. Blair meanwhile neither
denied the allegations nor condemned them. Instead he had the
bare-faced cheek to denounce Clare Short as “totally irresponsible.”
These
new revelations follow hot on the heels of the remarkable case of
Katherine Gun. A former translator at GCHQ [General Communications
Headquarters, part of the British intelligence services], Ms. Gun was
arrested some eight months ago, and later charged with a breach of the
Official Secrets Act, for disclosing what she saw as highly unethical
and possibly illegal British and American spying operations on
so-called friendly countries. At GCHQ she had seen an e-mail from the
US National Security Agency asking British Intelligence for their
assistance in bugging officials at the United Nations. In her own words
she thought this was “outrageous”, and despite the risk to herself
leaked the information. This she does not at all deny. Yet when the
case finally came before the Old Bailey the governments lawyers dropped
the charges saying they had no evidence to submit, and refusing to go
into any more detail. Had they been so shaken by the impact of the
persecution suffered by Dr. David Kelly that they decided to let the
matter drop?
The
truth has more to do with self-preservation. Here we enter the realm of
yet another cover-up. In their defence Ms. Gun’s lawyers intended to
demand the details of the advice given to the government by the
Attorney General on the legality of attacking Iraq. Legal Advisors in
the Foreign Office were apparently divided, many believing that a
second UN resolution was required to legitimise an invasion.
In
another related blow to the government a senior legal adviser at the
Foreign Office, Elizabeth Wilmhurst, who resigned from the Foreign
Office after 30 years service last year, has now confirmed that the
reason for her departure was that she was unhappy with the legal advice
given to the government by Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, that a
war would be legal even without a second UN resolution.
Why
did the Attorney General differ with his opposite numbers in the
Foreign Office on this question? The answer brings us back to the
original lie festering away at the heart of the build up to war in
Iraq, and the deceit extending to the very tops of the government. Very
few people ever believed the claims about Iraq’s weapons of mass
destruction. In any case their mere, if untrue, existence was not
enough for Blair and co. They had to go that one step further in
claiming that Britain was in clear and present danger because those
weapons could be used against us in 45 minutes. Everyone now knows this
was not true. But was this ‘evidence’ used to convince the Attorney
General that war would be legal? In the opinion of Clare Short there
was “something fishy about the way he said that the war was legal.”
This whole business stinks. Prime Ministers and governments have fallen
for less. That the secret services spy on the UN comes as no surprise.
The labour movement has plenty of experience of the illegal activities
of these people. That these operations should be exposed by a former
member of Blair’s cabinet creates a scandal of the first order.
In
her statement Clare Short has also breached the Official Secrets Act.
It is hard to believe that any legal action will be taken against her,
however, since the result would be the same exposure of the reasons
behind the Attorney General’s advice to the government. Nevertheless
the Blairites are desperate to stifle all criticism and may even
attempt to remove her from her seat or even expel her from the party.
This
lie and the cover-up operations shrouding it have already driven one
man beyond the edge of reason to take his own life; they have
persecuted a former GCHQ translator, cost several people their jobs,
and launched an unprecedented an assault on the BBC. No matter how hard
Blair wishes, and his aides spin, this will not go away. Of course, the
legality or otherwise of the war is in reality a purely formal
question. The families of the thousands of dead in Iraq, those enduring
the occupation of their home by foreign invaders, and the families of
those troops who have died will not be so concerned with legal
niceties. They, like millions of others, will however be appalled and
outraged by the web of intrigue and deceit now surrounding this
government.
All
this covert activity, the cover-ups and whitewashes which helped drag
Britain into a war opposed by the majority of the population, certainly
required a great deal more planning than has been given to conditions
of the troops. Following the death of Sergeant Steven Roberts, killed
after being made to hand over his flak jacket to another unit because
there were not enough to go around, another soldier has exposed the
frivolous manner in which these soldiers are being sent to die in a war
they should not be fighting. The new revelations, from a soldier who
served on the frontline in Iraq, explain how he and his men were given
five bullets each for the duration of their duty. Many uniforms,
vehicles, and even ‘camouflage’ nets were green instead of the required
desert brown. Instead of radios they were issued with mobile phones and
told to call if they came under attack!
What
thanks are the British imperialists getting for their loyal support of
their US masters? Very little. Trade Minister Mike O’Brien and Blair’s
trade envoy Brian Wilson have recently returned from the States where
they were lobbying for British firms to be granted lucrative
construction contracts in Iraq. It seems they came away more or less
empty handed for their troubles. While Halliburton formerly headed by
US vice-president Dick Cheney has received billions in contracts, the
British will get just a few crumbs.
As
Clare Short rightly pointed out “the tragedy is Iraq is a disastrous
mess. Ten thousand Iraqis have died, American troops are dying, some of
our troops have died, the Middle East is more angry than ever…so it
won’t go away will it?” Whilst Blair and co are desperate for Iraq to
go away, there are millions in Iraq who are desperate for them to go
away.
These
scandals are dragging the name of the Labour Party through the mud. By
their actions at home and abroad, in secret and in public, the Blair
leadership faces crisis. The Blairites and their pro-capitalist
policies must go. The stench of corruption, intrigue and deceit leaking
from every pore of the corridors of power needs to be cleared away. At
home and abroad a socialist policy is required. Blair will soon receive
a verdict not from Hutton, or some other inquiry, but a verdict he
cannot control, from the labour movement.
