New details about Britain's rush to war reveal the political pressure
the attorney general faced in trying to provide legal justification for
the invasion of Iraq.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Richard Norton-Taylor

Feb. 23, 2005 | Britain's attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, warned
less than two weeks before the invasion of Iraq that military action
could be ruled illegal. The government was so concerned that it might be
prosecuted, it set up a team of lawyers to prepare for legal action in
an international court. And a parliamentary answer issued days before
the war in the name of Lord Goldsmith -- but presented by ministers as
his official opinion before the crucial Commons vote -- was drawn up in
Downing Street, not in the attorney general's chambers.

The full picture of how the government manipulated the legal
justification for war, and of the political pressure placed on its most
senior law officer, is revealed in the Guardian Wednesday. It appears
that Lord Goldsmith never wrote an unequivocal formal legal opinion that
the invasion was lawful, as demanded by Lord Boyce, chief of defense
staff at the time.

The Guardian can also disclose that in her letter of resignation in
protest against the war, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy legal advisor at
the Foreign Office, described the planned invasion of Iraq as a "crime
of aggression." She said she could not agree to military action in
circumstances she described as "so detrimental to the international
order and the rule of law."

Her uncompromising comments, and disclosures about Lord Goldsmith's
relations with ministers in the run-up to war, appear in a book by
Philippe Sands, a Q.C. in Cherie Booth's Matrix chambers and professor
of international law at University College London. Exclusive extracts of
his book "Lawless World" are published in Wednesday's Guardian.

Lord Goldsmith warned Tony Blair in a document on March 7, 2003, that
the use of force against Iraq could be illegal. It would be safer to
have a second U.N. resolution explicitly sanctioning military action.
"So concerned was the government about the possibility of such a case
that it took steps to put together a legal team to prepare for possible
international litigation," writes Sands.

The government has refused to publish the March 7 document. It was
circulated to only a very few senior ministers. All Lord Goldsmith gave
the Cabinet was a later oral presentation of a parliamentary answer
issued under his name on March 17. This appears contrary to the official
ministerial code, which states that the complete text of opinions by the
government's law officers should be seen by the full Cabinet.

On March 13, 2003, Lord Goldsmith told Lord Falconer, then a Home Office
minister, and Baroness Morgan, Blair's director of political and
government relations, that he believed an invasion would, after all, be
legal without a new U.N. Security Council resolution, according to Sands.

On March 17, in response to a question from Baroness Ramsay, a Labor
peer, Lord Goldsmith stated that it was "plain" Iraq continued to be in
material breach of U.N. Resolution 1441. "Plain to whom?" asks Sands. It
is clear, he says, that Lord Goldsmith's answer was "neither a summary
nor a précis of any of the earlier advices which the attorney general
had provided."

He adds: "The March 17 statement does not seem to have been accompanied
by a formal and complete legal opinion or advice in the usual sense,
whether written by the attorney general, or independently by a barrister
retained by him."

Separately, the Guardian has learned that Lord Goldsmith told the
inquiry into the use of intelligence in the run-up to war that his
meeting with Lord Falconer and Baroness Morgan was an informal one. He
did not know whether it was officially recorded.

Lord Goldsmith also made clear he did not draw up the March 17 written
parliamentary answer. They "set out my view," he told the Butler
inquiry, referring to Lord Falconer and Baroness Morgan. Yet the
following day, March 18, that answer was described in the Commons order
paper as the attorney general's "opinion." During the debate,
influential Labor backbenchers and the Conservative front bench said it
was an important factor behind their decision to vote for war.

Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary and leader of the Commons,
Tuesday described the Guardian's disclosure as alarming. "It
dramatically reveals the extent to which the legal opinion on the war
was the product of a political process," he said. The case for seeing
the attorney general's original advice was now overwhelming, Cook added.
"What was served up to Parliament as the view of the attorney general
turned out to be the view of two of the closest aides of the prime
minister," he said.

Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman,
said the government's position had been seriously undermined. "The
substance of the attorney general's advice, and the process by which it
was partially published, simply do not stand up to scrutiny," he said.
Sir Menzies added: "The issue is all the more serious, since the
government motion passed by the House of Commons on March 18, 2003,
endorsing military action against Iraq, was expressly based on that
advice." He continued: "The public interest, which the government claims
justifies nonpublication of the whole of the advice, can only be served
now by the fullest disclosure."

Lord Goldsmith twice changed his view in the weeks up to the invasion.
He wrote to Blair on March 14, 2003, saying it was "essential" that
"strong evidence" existed that Iraq was still producing weapons of mass
destruction. The next day, the prime minister replied, saying: "This is
to confirm it is indeed the prime minister's unequivocal view that Iraq
is in further material breach of its obligations."

The same day, Lord Boyce got the unequivocal advice he says he was after
in a two-line note from the attorney general's office. The extent of
concern among military chiefs is reflected by Gen. Sir Mike Jackson,
head of the army, quoted by Peter Hennessy, professor of contemporary
history at Queen Mary College, London. "I spent a good deal of time
recently in the Balkans making sure [Slobodan] Milosevic was put behind
bars," said Sir Mike. "I have no intention of ending up in the next cell
to him in the Hague."

Sands records that Lord Goldsmith visited Washington in February 2003,
when he met John Bellinger, legal advisor to the White House National
Security Council. An official later told Sands: "We had trouble with
your attorney; we got him there eventually."

A spokeswoman for Lord Goldsmith said Tuesday: "The attorney has said on
many occasions he is not going to discuss process issues." The March 17
parliamentary answer was the "attorney's own answer," she said, adding
that he would not discuss the processes of how the document was drawn up.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs said it could not say if Lord
Falconer had a role in drawing up the answer.

Bush won. Your guy lost. We are in Iraq and doing good things. We are
slowly bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East.

Now be a good boy, accept those things and stop the whining. It is getting
old.

Also Sprach JimH :

Bush won.

That he did.

Your guy lost.

I didn't have a "guy" in the race.

We are in Iraq and doing good things.

We are in Iraq, murdering women and children as we sodomize their husbands
and fathers in our prison camps.

We are slowly bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East.

We are quickly raising a whole new generation of America-hating islamic
fundamentalist terrorists.

Now be a good boy, accept those things and stop the whining. It is getting
old.

Maybe you are content accepting the degeneration of our once great country
into an international force of evil, but I'm not.

Dan

"Marshall Banana" wrote in message
...
Also Sprach JimH :

Bush won.

That he did.

Your guy lost.

I didn't have a "guy" in the race.

I never said *you* did.



We are in Iraq and doing good things.

We are in Iraq, murdering women and children as we sodomize their husbands
and fathers in our prison camps.

We are murdering women and children?
We are sodomizing men in prison camps?

Please provide you source of these claims.



We are slowly bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East.

We are quickly raising a whole new generation of America-hating islamic
fundamentalist terrorists.


They have been around for decades. Do you think this is a new phenomenom
caused by GWB?



Now be a good boy, accept those things and stop the whining. It is
getting
old.

Maybe you are content accepting the degeneration of our once great country
into an international force of evil, but I'm not.

Dan

I see it in a completely different view. Even many, if not most, democrats
do. And the view is positive.

Only the those who have yet to get over the fact that GWB won are looking at
it in a negative sadistic view. You are apparently one of them.

JimH wrote:
"Marshall Banana" wrote in message
...

Also Sprach JimH :


Bush won.

That he did.


Your guy lost.

I didn't have a "guy" in the race.


I never said *you* did.



We are in Iraq and doing good things.

We are in Iraq, murdering women and children as we sodomize their husbands
and fathers in our prison camps.


We are murdering women and children?
We are sodomizing men in prison camps?

Please provide you source of these claims.

Maybe Faux news doesn't cover it, but read any *reputable* news sourcr



We are slowly bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East.

We are quickly raising a whole new generation of America-hating islamic
fundamentalist terrorists.



They have been around for decades. Do you think this is a new phenomenom
caused by GWB?

YES -- every one we kill has brothers, cousins, friends who will be out
to avenge him in the name of their God.



Now be a good boy, accept those things and stop the whining. It is
getting
old.

Maybe you are content accepting the degeneration of our once great country
into an international force of evil, but I'm not.

Dan


I see it in a completely different view. Even many, if not most, democrats
do. And the view is positive.

Positive because you are "Blinded by the right"

Only the those who have yet to get over the fact that GWB won are looking at
it in a negative sadistic view. You are apparently one of them.

Remember the comment made by GW shortly before taking office

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier...just as
long as I'm the dictator."
-- During his first trip to Washington as President-Elect, Washington,
DC, Dec 18, 2000

I thought he was joking at the time, but it appears he wasn't

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 17:46:19 GMT, "Jim," wrote:

New details about Britain's rush to war reveal the political pressure
the attorney general faced in trying to provide legal justification for
the invasion of Iraq.

Yawn.....

Jimcomma, do you ever read the crap you find to cut and paste?

You need to start watching a decent news source so you'll know what's going on.
Try Fox for starters, and see what the other three-fourths of the daily news is.

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 17:46:19 GMT, "Jim," wrote:

Here, NOYB posted this, but you probably wouldn't read it under his name. So
I'll put under your thread. I *know* you won't be able to resist it then!


Feb. 23, 2005, 12:27PM



Syrian officer says he trained Iraqi insurgents
Associated Press


BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi state television aired a video today showing what the
U.S.-funded channel said was the confession of a captured Syrian officer who
said he trained Iraqi insurgents to behead people and build car bombs to
attack American and Iraqi troops.

The video also showed an Iraqi who said the insurgents practiced beheading
animals to train for decapitating hostages.

Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the claims.

The video comes at a time when the Bush administration has stepped up
pressure on Syria to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs by allowing insurgents
to cross into the country to fight coalition troops and by harboring former
Iraqi regime members. Syria has denied the charges.

President Bush also repeated today that Syria must remove its 15,000 troops
from neighboring Lebanon but did not threaten any action against Damascus -
for now.

In the video, the man, identified as Lt. Anas Ahmed al-Essa of the Syrian
intelligence service, said his group had been recruited to "cause chaos in
Iraq ... to bar America from reaching Syria."

"We received all the instructions from Syrian intelligence," al-Essa, 30,
said on a video broadcast by state-run Iraqiya TV, which can be seen
nationwide.

The tape was apparently made in the northern city of Mosul but no date was
provided. It was not possible to authenticate the claims.

An unidentified Iraqi officer introduced the video, saying all insurgent
groups in Iraq were covers for Syrian intelligence. He named a number of
well-known groups, including one which has killed and beheaded foreigners.

Iraqiya TV is believed to be widely watched by Iraqis - mainly those who
cannot afford satellite dishes offering the Gulf-based Al-Jazeera and
Al-Arabiya stations. But the station, which went on the air in May 2003 with
help from the Pentagon, is viewed by many Iraqis as an American propaganda
tool having a pro-American slant.

Top officials in Iraq's interim government have called on Syria to hand over
former Iraqi Baathists who fled there after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion,
which Syria vehemently opposed.

In the video, the bearded al-Essa, dressed in a gray jacket and shirt,
claimed to be leader of the al-Fateh Army, which has not been heard of
before.

He was one of 11 men claiming in front of the camera that they were
recruited by Syrian intelligence officers. The other 10 were identified as
Iraqis.

Al-Essa said his need for money was the motive for accepting an offer by a
Syrian intelligence colonel he identified as Fady Abdullah to carry out
attacks inside Iraq.

"I was trained on explosives, killing, spying, kidnapping ... and after one
year I went to Iraq with Fady Abdullah," al-Essa said.

He claimed he infiltrated into Iraq in 2001, about two years before the U.S.
invasion, because Syrian intelligence was convinced that American military
action loomed.

Another man, Shawan al-Sabaawi, was identified as a former lieutenant
colonel in Saddam Hussein's army. He claimed to have received training from
Syrian intelligence on how to behead hostages.

He said the group started by making car bombs targeting American troops and
Iraqi National Guardsmen before beginning a campaign of kidnapping and
beheading Iraqis.

Al-Essa said the group used animals for training in beheadings. He said it
required "at least 10 beheadings" for a member to be promoted to a group
leader.

"I had to send a report to Syria about how the operations are going," he
said.

Weapons, explosives and equipment were all provided by Syrian intelligence,
al-Essa claimed. He added the group members received $1,500 a month.

International pressure on Syria has grown since the Feb. 14 assassination of
former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, who died along with 16 others in a
massive explosion in Beirut.

The Lebanese opposition blames the killing on the Damascus government and
its Syrian backers. Both governments have denied involvement. Syria has
15,000 soldiers in Lebanon and is under growing international pressure to
withdraw.




John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 17:27:34 -0500, " Tuuk" wrote:

krause

you ****ing liar,, I cannot wait to meet you,, you say you have so many
including myself in your ignore bin,, but then the ****ing old age pill
pushing liar that you are forget when you are strung out on the pills, you
respond directly. You I gots to see for myself. I accept your invitation as
I cannot believe you are for real.

And stop emailing my service provider you liar,, you simply waste mine and
their time when you communicate to them and fabricate more of your lies to
them. They aint got time to investigate your lies,, lol,, neither do I but I
most certainly will make the time.



Krause has been emailing me also. Don't know what he's saying 'cause the ISP
just bounces emails from him. I think he's just got too much time on his hands.
Soon Spring will be here and he'll take his lobsta boat around Cape Horn, or
someplace, and we'll be shed of him for a couple months. I wish!

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

Thats funny

krause calling people's ISP and ratting them out. Interesting that he is
also calling your ISP and ratting you out like the little rat krause is. It
is typically common that a liar is also a rat, then the liar will lie about
being a rat. lol,,, that is krause,,

krause, one thing is sure you sure are low, very low on the integrity scale.
Tell me krause, this new little darling you have now, your third wife,, what
is wrong with her? I mean the other two left you, your children left you,
just as YOU YOURSELF SAID,,, and now you trick one 20 years your junior. O
ya,,, wasn't she going for her PHd ,,, lol,,, ouch,,, ooo my,, what did you
do krause ,, buy the school for her??? Or does she just get dropped off by
the little yellow school bus up the lane and instead of going to that
special school, she skips and comes and cleans your house, change a few
diapers, administer a few meds.

Anyway,, you lying rat,, stop communicating with my ISP provider, they have
better things to do and you keep sending them on these wild goose chases. I
believe they have come to the conclusion that you are a liar.,,,,lol,,, I
wonder why it took them so long. That is an obvious observation. But if you
keep bugging them, they will have to hire more and my service will go up in
price. Just like your life long union mentality krause, you are obviously a
communist and your strategic sneaky lying methods are your only chance for
advancement.







"John H" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 17:27:34 -0500, " Tuuk"
wrote:

krause

you ****ing liar,, I cannot wait to meet you,, you say you have so many
including myself in your ignore bin,, but then the ****ing old age pill
pushing liar that you are forget when you are strung out on the pills, you
respond directly. You I gots to see for myself. I accept your invitation
as
I cannot believe you are for real.

And stop emailing my service provider you liar,, you simply waste mine and
their time when you communicate to them and fabricate more of your lies to
them. They aint got time to investigate your lies,, lol,, neither do I but
I
most certainly will make the time.



Krause has been emailing me also. Don't know what he's saying 'cause the
ISP
just bounces emails from him. I think he's just got too much time on his
hands.
Soon Spring will be here and he'll take his lobsta boat around Cape Horn,
or
someplace, and we'll be shed of him for a couple months. I wish!

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to
resolve it."
Rene Descartes