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| Britain ordered to release Iraq war minutes |
| 2009-01-28 |
| LONDON - The British government was ordered Tuesday to release minutes of crucial ministerial meetings from 2003 at which the controversial US-led invasion of Iraq was discussed. The Information Tribunal backed a decision to disclose minutes of Cabinet meetings from March 13 and 17, where ministers held talks about whether the decision to go to war was allowed under international law. “We have decided that the public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of the formal minutes of two Cabinet meetings at which ministers decided to commit forces to military action in Iraq did not... outweigh the public interest in disclosure,” the tribunal said. “The decision to commit the nation’s armed forces to the invasion of another country is momentous in its own right, and... its seriousness is increased by the criticisms that have been made of the general decision-making processes in the Cabinet at the time.” The Cabinet Office has 28 days to decide whether to appeal against the ruling. A spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Downing Street office said: “We are considering our response.” Then prime minister Tony Blair was widely criticised for backing US president George W. Bush in invading Iraq to oust dictator Saddam Hussein despite failing to secure a second United Nations resolution on the stand-off. Ministerial discussions focused notably on then attorney general Peter Goldsmith’s advice on the legality of war. Blair’s government strongly resisted demands for the advice of its most senior legal adviser to be made public, until a large section was leaked during the 2005 general election campaign. Goldsmith then denied ministers pressured him into changing his mind to rule that invading Iraq would be legal in international law even without a second UN Security Council resolution. The information tribunal noted Tuesday that “there has... been criticism of the attorney general’s legal advice and of the particular way in which the March 17 opinion was made available to the Cabinet only at the last moment and the March 7 opinion was not disclosed to it at all.” The tribunal ruling backed up a decision by Information Commissioner Richard Thomas. He said: “I am pleased that the tribunal has upheld my decision that the public interest in disclosing the official Cabinet minutes in this particular case outweighs the public interest in withholding the information. Disclosing the minutes will allow the public to more fully understand this particular decision.” Former minister Clare Short, who resigned over Britain’s involvement in the Iraq conflict, played down expectations from the minutes, if they are eventually released. “I think people will be disappointed about how little the minutes will say. For example, they never attribute different points to different people. They are always in very generalised terms,” she said. “So I think it’s very interesting indeed that the information commissioner has said they must be revealed, but I think they will disappoint people.” There was “very little proper discussion” in the Cabinet, she said. “Cabinet meetings were limited and the minutes are very generalised and limited.” |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 I call BS- look for them in 2053. If Britain lasts that long. That's a pretty big "if", I suppose. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2009-01-28 12:38 |