Cook finds ‘breathtaking’ inconsistencies in rationale for war
Robin Cook, former foreign secretary and staunch opponent of the US-led invasion of Iraq, has refused to let the Government off the hook regarding the legitimacy and rationale for war without first securing evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
Mr. Cook’s intervention came as George W. Bush’s US administration admitted that no ‘smoking gun’ had yet been found among the trailers seized recently in Iraq.
On Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggested weapon supplies, which were pinpointed as key finds justifying the attack on Iraq, could have been destroyed prior to outbreak of hostilities, thereby denying allied forces the legal framework on which to mount strikes against Iraq.
It was thought the trailers carried biological warfare agents but the CIA found no trace of such weapons.
Mr. Cook found this admittance ‘breathtaking’ and said it lent credence to his decision to quit the Cabinet in protest over the illegality of war.
On Newsnight, he said: ‘Donald Rumsfeld, more than anyone else, told us it was necessary to go to war because Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Indeed we were told this would be a pre-emptive strike, to have hit him before he hit us with these weapons.
‘That does not add up. If Donald Rumsfeld is now admitting the weapons are not there, the truth is the weapons probably haven’t been there for quite a long time.
‘What is important about this is that the war was sold on the basis of what was described as a pre-emptive strike. Hit Saddam before he hits us. It is now quite clear that Saddam did not have anything with which to hit us in the first place.’
And Mr. Cook, speaking earlier in the day, said: ‘Saying that they can’t find the weapons, and they may never find the weapons, blows an enormous gaping hole through the case for war that was made on both sides of the Atlantic.’
He insisted an inquiry was now necessary, the form of which could be at select committee level.
Leftwinger Peter Kilfoyle said Rumfield’s message could have damaging ramifications for the PM. ‘This is absolutely dangerous for Tony Blair. The potential charge is that the House of Commons has been misled.’
