Bush 'plotted to lure Saddam into war with fake UN plane'
[FPF - related: The secret Downing Street memo - SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL - UK EYES ONLY - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/d9kdp]
Published: 03 February 2006 - The Independent - England
By Andy McSmith
GEORGE BUSH CONSIDERED PROVOKING A WAR WITH SADDAM HUSSEIN'S REGIME by flying a United States spyplane over Iraq bearing UN colours, enticing the Iraqis to take a shot at it, according to a leaked memo of a meeting between the US President and Tony Blair.
The two leaders were worried by the lack of hard evidence that Saddam Hussein had broken UN resolutions, though privately they were convinced that he had. According to the memorandum, Mr Bush said: "The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach."
He added: "It was also possible that a defector could be brought out who would give a public presentation about Saddam's WMD, and there was also a small possibility that Saddam would be assassinated." The memo damningly suggests the decision to invade Iraq had already been made when Mr Blair and the US President met in Washington on 31 January 2003 - when the British Government was still working on obtaining a second UN resolution to legitimise the conflict.*
'TWIST ARMS' AND 'EVEN THREATEN'
The leaders discussed the prospects for a second resolution, but Mr Bush said: "The US would put its full weight behind efforts to get another resolution and would 'twist arms' and 'even threaten'. But he had to say that if ultimately we failed, military action would follow anyway." He added that he had a date, 10 March, pencilled in for the start of military action. The war actually began on 20 March.
Mr Blair replied that he was "solidly with the President and ready to do whatever it took to disarm Saddam." But he also insisted that " a second Security Council resolution would provide an insurance policy against the unexpected, and international cover, including with the Arabs" .
The memo appears to refute claims made in memoirs published by the former UK ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, who has accused Mr Blair of missing an opportunity to win the US over to a strategy based on a second UN resolution. It now appears Mr Bush's mind was already made up.
BUSH: ''UNLIKELY THAT THERE WOULD BE INTERNECINE WARFARE.''
There was also a discussion of what might happen in Iraq after Saddam had been overthrown. President Bush said that he "thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups". Mr Blair did not respond. Details of the meeting are revealed in a book, Lawless World, published today by Philippe Sands, a professor of law at University College London.
"I think no one would be surprised at the idea that the use of spy planes to review what is going on would be considered," Mr Sands told Channel 4 News last night.
"WHAT IS SURPRISING IS THE IDEA THAT THEY WOULD BE PAINTED IN THE COLOURS OF THE UNITED NATIONS TO PROVOKE AN ATTACK WHICH COULD THEN BE USED TO JUSTIFY MATERIAL BREACH.
"NOW THAT PLAINLY LOOKS AS IF IT IS DECEPTION, AND IT RAISES... QUESTIONS OF LEGALITY, BOTH IN TERMS OF DOMESTIC LAW AND INTERNATIONAL LAW."
Other participants in the meeting were Mr Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, her deputy, Dan Fried, the chief of staff, Andrew Card, Mr Blair's then security adviser, Sir David Manning, his foreign policy aide, Matthew Rycroft, and his chief of staff, Jonathan Powell.
The Downing Street spokesman later said: "The Prime Minister only committed forces to Iraq after securing the approval of the Commons in the vote on 18 March 2003."
The spokesman added: "All these matters have been thoroughly investigated and we stand by our position."
* The Ministry of Defence will publish casualty figures for UK troops in Iraq on its website within the next few weeks, the Government disclosed last night. Defence Secretary John Reid said the figures - which will be regularly updated - would identify the number of personnel categorised as seriously injured and very seriously injured. He promised to alert MPs before the first publication of the figures. The pledge came in a Commons written reply.
[andend] - Independent story - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8vbf6
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More war, now with Iran - Bush says U.S. will defend Israel if attacked by Iran??? - What Bush means is: when the zionist PNAC criminals start the war by attacking Iran - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/byqv2
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Google search "Biggest threat to world peace" - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/dk2lj
* "People do not forget. They do not forget the death of their fellows, they do not forget torture and mutilation, they do not forget injustice, they do not forget oppression, they do not forget the terrorism of mighty powers. They not only don't forget: they also strike back." - 2005 Nobel Literature Prize winner Harold Pinter - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9cyeq
* The Nuremberg principles: "Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefor and liable to punishment." - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/byurp
* 'The war in Iraq is illegal' - BBC: video & text-interview of the United Nation's Secretary General Kofi Annan - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/5pl2v
* Reference guide to the Geneva Conventions - Url.: http://www.genevaconventions.org
* Al Qaeda – The Database - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/cqx69
* The 9/11 WTC drama was PNAC terror - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9np7d - It was an inside job - Google - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7tj9d
* Who's financing? - The 'Federal Reserve' and it's usurers is the absolute biggest crime against all humanity ever. - Url.: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm
* Help all the troops - of whatever nationality - to come back from abroad! - AND WITH ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WHICH WE WERE FORCED TO PAY FOR BY TAXES - [http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm ] - We need them badly at home in many countries to fight with us against our so called 'governments' and their malignant managers - Url.: http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
* FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.: http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html
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Published: 03 February 2006 - The Independent - England
By Andy McSmith
GEORGE BUSH CONSIDERED PROVOKING A WAR WITH SADDAM HUSSEIN'S REGIME by flying a United States spyplane over Iraq bearing UN colours, enticing the Iraqis to take a shot at it, according to a leaked memo of a meeting between the US President and Tony Blair.
The two leaders were worried by the lack of hard evidence that Saddam Hussein had broken UN resolutions, though privately they were convinced that he had. According to the memorandum, Mr Bush said: "The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach."
He added: "It was also possible that a defector could be brought out who would give a public presentation about Saddam's WMD, and there was also a small possibility that Saddam would be assassinated." The memo damningly suggests the decision to invade Iraq had already been made when Mr Blair and the US President met in Washington on 31 January 2003 - when the British Government was still working on obtaining a second UN resolution to legitimise the conflict.*
'TWIST ARMS' AND 'EVEN THREATEN'
The leaders discussed the prospects for a second resolution, but Mr Bush said: "The US would put its full weight behind efforts to get another resolution and would 'twist arms' and 'even threaten'. But he had to say that if ultimately we failed, military action would follow anyway." He added that he had a date, 10 March, pencilled in for the start of military action. The war actually began on 20 March.
Mr Blair replied that he was "solidly with the President and ready to do whatever it took to disarm Saddam." But he also insisted that " a second Security Council resolution would provide an insurance policy against the unexpected, and international cover, including with the Arabs" .
The memo appears to refute claims made in memoirs published by the former UK ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, who has accused Mr Blair of missing an opportunity to win the US over to a strategy based on a second UN resolution. It now appears Mr Bush's mind was already made up.
BUSH: ''UNLIKELY THAT THERE WOULD BE INTERNECINE WARFARE.''
There was also a discussion of what might happen in Iraq after Saddam had been overthrown. President Bush said that he "thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups". Mr Blair did not respond. Details of the meeting are revealed in a book, Lawless World, published today by Philippe Sands, a professor of law at University College London.
"I think no one would be surprised at the idea that the use of spy planes to review what is going on would be considered," Mr Sands told Channel 4 News last night.
"WHAT IS SURPRISING IS THE IDEA THAT THEY WOULD BE PAINTED IN THE COLOURS OF THE UNITED NATIONS TO PROVOKE AN ATTACK WHICH COULD THEN BE USED TO JUSTIFY MATERIAL BREACH.
"NOW THAT PLAINLY LOOKS AS IF IT IS DECEPTION, AND IT RAISES... QUESTIONS OF LEGALITY, BOTH IN TERMS OF DOMESTIC LAW AND INTERNATIONAL LAW."
Other participants in the meeting were Mr Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, her deputy, Dan Fried, the chief of staff, Andrew Card, Mr Blair's then security adviser, Sir David Manning, his foreign policy aide, Matthew Rycroft, and his chief of staff, Jonathan Powell.
The Downing Street spokesman later said: "The Prime Minister only committed forces to Iraq after securing the approval of the Commons in the vote on 18 March 2003."
The spokesman added: "All these matters have been thoroughly investigated and we stand by our position."
* The Ministry of Defence will publish casualty figures for UK troops in Iraq on its website within the next few weeks, the Government disclosed last night. Defence Secretary John Reid said the figures - which will be regularly updated - would identify the number of personnel categorised as seriously injured and very seriously injured. He promised to alert MPs before the first publication of the figures. The pledge came in a Commons written reply.
[andend] - Independent story - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8vbf6
RELATED:
The secret Downing Street memo - SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL - UK EYES ONLY - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/d9kdp
US official admits he smuggled $2m of aid meant for Iraq - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/amymg
More war, now with Iran - Bush says U.S. will defend Israel if attacked by Iran??? - What Bush means is: when the zionist PNAC criminals start the war by attacking Iran - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/byqv2
MediaLens - 'Israel declares war: Iran the next nuclear Holocaust' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/73e2d
UN Figures Show: US Controls Iran Permanently - Url.: www.countercurrents.org/us-henk160805.htm
'Spreading democracy PNAC style'': GUN CAMERA FOOTAGE - US 'KILLING FIELDS' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/2l8ku
'Spreading democracy' - Countries & US Death Squads - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/drnca - A 55' second sound bite concerning the US 'bringing democracy' everywhere - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/5u98v
Google search "Biggest threat to world peace" - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/dk2lj
* "People do not forget. They do not forget the death of their fellows, they do not forget torture and mutilation, they do not forget injustice, they do not forget oppression, they do not forget the terrorism of mighty powers. They not only don't forget: they also strike back." - 2005 Nobel Literature Prize winner Harold Pinter - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9cyeq
* The Nuremberg principles: "Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefor and liable to punishment." - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/byurp
* 'The war in Iraq is illegal' - BBC: video & text-interview of the United Nation's Secretary General Kofi Annan - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/5pl2v
* Reference guide to the Geneva Conventions - Url.: http://www.genevaconventions.org
* Al Qaeda – The Database - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/cqx69
* The 9/11 WTC drama was PNAC terror - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9np7d - It was an inside job - Google - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7tj9d
* Who's financing? - The 'Federal Reserve' and it's usurers is the absolute biggest crime against all humanity ever. - Url.: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm
* Help all the troops - of whatever nationality - to come back from abroad! - AND WITH ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WHICH WE WERE FORCED TO PAY FOR BY TAXES - [http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm ] - We need them badly at home in many countries to fight with us against our so called 'governments' and their malignant managers - Url.: http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
* FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.: http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html
* It's very unlikely, but if you would prefer to unsubscribe from the FPF-list, pls. just send an email in return with the word 'unsubscribe'.
FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
http://tinyurl.com/6v8ru
Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/amn3q
The Netherlands
FPF@Chello.nl
-0-
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