Secret emails show Iraq dossier was 'sexed up'

Intelligence chiefs criticised 'iffy drafting' of key document

By Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor

March 13, 2009, The Independent -- Secret Whitehall emails released yesterday provide damning new evidence that the notorious dossier making the case for invading Iraq was "sexed up". They disclose that the intelligence services were sceptical over the "iffy drafting" of government claims that Saddam Hussein could mount a missile strike on his neighbours within 45 minutes of ordering an attack.

Officials privately mocked assertions that the Iraqi president was covertly trying to develop a nuclear capability and wisecracked that perhaps he had recruited "Dr Frankenstein" to his supposed crack team of nuclear scientists.

The release of a series of confidential memos and emails, following a protracted Freedom of Information battle, reignited the controversy over accusations that Tony Blair's government "spun" Britain into war.

Last night both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats renewed their demands for a full public inquiry into the decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq.

The 45-minute claim – presented to MPs in a notorious dossier on 24 September 2002, six months before military action began – was central to the Blair government's justification for war.

But a memo sent 13 days earlier by Desmond Bowen, head of the Cabinet Office defence secretariat, to John Scarlett, who was head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, suggested he had grave reservations over the threat. His comments were copied to Mr Blair's press secretary Alastair Campbell and to his chief-of-staff Jonathan Powell.

Mr Bowen wrote: "The question we have to have in the back of our mind is: 'Why now?' I think we have moved away from promoting the ideas that we are in imminent danger of attack and ... intend to act in pre-emptive self-defence."
Source: South News

BBC News

Inquiry calls over Iraq dossier

BBC News - ‎Mar 12, 2009‎

Critics of the war say the dossier, published in late 2002 as US pressure on Iraq was growing, was "sexed up" to press the case for military action against ...

Cabinet Office papers reveal Iraq dossier fears guardian.co.uk

UK officials were worried about Iraq dossier The Associated Press

E-mails show UK officials' concern on Iraq dossier Reuters UK

Times Online - The Herald

all 148 news articles »

Categories: iraq, war-on-terror, blair, disinfo, disinformation

Family eager for Dalai Lama's return

Reporter: Stephen McDonell

March 9, 2009

This is part of a transcript from AM, used in Fair Use. The program is broadcast around Australia at 08:00 on ABC Local Radio. On the same page you can also listen to the story in REAL AUDIO and WINDOWS MEDIA and MP3 formats.

TONY EASTLEY: On the eve of tomorrow's 50th anniversary of the failed uprising which saw the Dalai Lama flee Tibet, his family inside China have told the ABC that they miss him and want him to be allowed to return.

In an attempt to prevent a repeat of last year's clashes on the same anniversary China has increased police and military numbers across Tibet.

China correspondent Stephen McDonell reports from the Tibetan Plateau where he's seen the build up firsthand.

STEPHEN MCDONELL: In every Tibetan town and village there's tension in the run-up to tomorrow's 50th anniversary of a failed uprising here.

In 2008, the 49th anniversary of the event which sent the Dalai Lama into exile, produced a violent rebellion.

In 2009, the Government wants no protests, and, if they happen, for them not to be seen.

So up to a quarter of China's land mass is cut off to outsiders, and especially foreign journalists.

On the road to Tongren we came across a checkpoint where every car was stopped. Some officers wore helmets and carried automatic weapons.

They checked our identification and ordered us to drive back the way we came and return to Beijing. One officer said we shouldn't bother trying to return for the next month.

While we were there we saw two young Tibetan monks try to pass. They were taken off for questioning ...

When we knocked on the door of the house the Dalai Lama was born in we met his nephew's wife. She didn't want us to use her name.

I asked if tomorrow there could be a repeat of last year's events.

"It's not good to answer questions like this," she said.

"Do you miss him?" I asked

"I miss him every day," she said ...

When asked if the Communist Party might let him return, she said, "We're not allowed to talk about this", and warned that if we didn't go soon, the police would come and we'd be in trouble.

Has it been tense lately because of the 50th anniversary? "We aren't allowed to talk about this," she said, "So go quickly ...

Up here, military trucks by the dozen can be seen driving to trouble spots. They're packed full of soldiers, or paramilitary police carrying riot shields ...

MiamiHerald.com

Crackdown marks Tibet anniversary

The Australian - ‎2 hours ago‎

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Times of India - BBC News

Categories: china, tibet, authoritarianism, communism, liberty

Bush Memos on Presidential Power Shock Legal Experts

Administration sought unchecked wartime authority

By David G. Savage

Washington - Legal experts said Tuesday they were taken aback by the claim in the latest batch of secret Bush-era memos that the president alone had the power to set the rules during the war on terrorism.

Yale law professor Jack Balkin called this a "theory of presidential dictatorship. They say the battlefield is everywhere. And the president can do anything he wants, so long as it involves the military and the enemy."

The criticism was not limited to liberals. "I agree with the left on this one," said Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University. The approach in the memos "was simply not a plausible reading of the case law. The Bush [Office of Legal Counsel] eventually rejected [the] memos because they were wrong on the law, and they were right to do so."

Defenders of the administration stress that the memos were written during a time of national emergency. Officials feared, and indeed, expected another terrorist attack within the U.S. They were determined to take all possible steps to prevent it. And by the time the Bush administration came to an end, views within the Justice Department had changed dramatically.

Still, critics said some in the Bush administration took advantage of the moment.

"This was a period of panic, and panic creates an opportunity for patriotic politicians to abuse their power," Balkin said.

The newly released memos were mostly written between 2001 and 2003, and they gave the government broad legal authorization for fighting a new war in a new way. Their common theme was that no laws can limit the president's power in fighting terrorists.

Congress had prohibited the use of torture by U.S. agents, and it said "no citizen shall be imprisoned" in this country without legal charges. The memos said neither law could stand in the way of the president's power as commander in chief.

A March 2002 memo, for example, said holding prisoners in wartime "is an area in which the president appears to enjoy exclusive authority, as the power ... is not reserved by the Constitution in whole or in part to any other branch of government." ...

Read on at Chicago Tribune

Categories: bush, authoritarianism, usa, war-crime, war-on-terror, war, iraq, afghanistan, disinformation