The lies that led to Iraq.(Inside Track)(Iraq War)

In a report that garnered little if any attention in the United States, in mid-December the Independent, a London newspaper, reported that the British government's (and hence, the U.S. government's) case for war in Iraq was based on lies. According to the report, the case for war was "torn apart by the publication of previously suppressed evidence that Tony Blair lied over Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction." The evidence comes from British diplomat Came Ross, a negotiator for the British government at the UN who participated in crafting UN sanctions against the regime of Saddam Hussein.

While his UN service is in no way a mark of distinction, Ross may have been well placed to examine the evidence that was used to justify the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq. In testimony that was kept secret until now by the British Official Secrets Act, Ross said, "at no time did HMG [Her Majesty's Government] assess that Iraq's WMD (or any other capability) posed a threat to the UK or its interests." Moreover, he said it was a widely held view among British officials that the Iraqi regime had been "effectively contained."

According to British Members of Parliament (MPs), it appears that the British Foreign Office sought to keep Ross' testimony secret because ...