Sunday, January 21, 2007
G.W. Bush fabricates a war/Downing Street Document
“The Foreign Secretary (Jack Straw) said he would discuss this with Colin Powell this week. It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.
The Attorney-General (Lord Goldsmith) said that the desire for regime change was not a legal base for military action. There were three possible legal bases: self-defence, humanitarian intervention, or UNSC (U.N. Security Council) authorisation. The first and second could not be the base in this case. Relying on UNSCR (U.N. Security Council Resolution) 1205 of three years ago would be difficult. The situation might of course change”…