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Tony Blair gave secret promise to George Bush over Iraq invasion
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| Contributor | particleman |
| Last Edited | particleman Jan 12, 2010 07:02pm |
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| Category | News |
| Author | David Brown |
| Media | Newspaper - The Times (U.K.) |
| News Date | Wednesday, January 13, 2010 12:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Tony Blair promised George Bush that Britain would support military action by the United States to overthrow Saddam Hussein in a series of secret notes written a year before the invasion of Iraq. The content of the notes was revealed yesterday by Mr Blair’s former spokesman, Alastair Campbell.
The Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war was electrified by the appearance of Mr Campbell, who disclosed details of the highly sensitive correspondence in a defiant defence of his former boss. On three separate occasions Mr Campbell spoke of his pride at the way in which the events unfolded.
“As a country we should feel incredibly proud of the role we played in getting rid of one of the most brutal regimes in history,” he said.
In a tense five-hour encounter with the five-member inquiry, Mr Campbell placed Gordon Brown, then the Chancellor, at the heart of an inner circle of key ministers and advisers whom he consulted in private on Iraq.
But in the most dramatic revelation, he said that Mr Blair sent notes to President Bush so sensitive that they were not shown in advance even to senior members of the Cabinet. “I sometimes felt that they were quite advisory,” he said of the letters to Mr Bush. “They were very frank.”
He insisted that despite Mr Blair’s “instinct” that he should be with the US, he remained committed to finding a diplomatic resolution right up to the eve of the invasion in March 2003. |
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