Straw failed to sway Blair from actively supporting the Bush War

[BaliBabyDoc]

Yahoo Aussie
(excerpts)

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made a last-minute plea to Prime Minister Tony Blair not to go to war on Iraq, but the plea was rejected, a new book serialised British newspaper the Mail on Sunday claims.

According to the book, Straw sent a memo to the prime minister days before the conflict began in March, urging him to tell US President George W Bush that Britain would offer moral and political support, but no combat troops.

But Blair rejected the advice, and demanded an assurance that Straw would support the war despite his reservations, says the book by political journalist John Kampfner, entitled Blair's Wars, to be published on September 22.

The allegations in the book follow the revelation in a parliamentary report last week that Blair overruled advice from intelligence chiefs that war on Iraq could increase the likelihood of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists.

 

[LunarRay]

I think Straw realized that the initial invasion rationalization was too weak (implied authority contained in 1441 and prior Iraqi UN resolutions) and it was not supported by the British folks. If you recall, they were arguing this logic early on. Then somehow the WMD and the Article 51 self defense argument took over. I think Straw found a theory that he could grasp onto and it was this that allowed him to back Blair's play. I think folks like Straw still needed more meat in that allegation and this is where the 'sexing up' of the intel came into being. Blair needed enough support in Parliment to sway the people and keep from a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons. I think the entire issue was one of political surviability offset by the pressure from Washington to stand by the Bush plan. I don't believe any of it was based on the British need to protect its citizens from SH's Iraqi War Machine. Or any other threat or implied threat.