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June 30, 2005
Chicago Tribune Publishes Downing Street Memo Article
The June 30, 2005 issue of the Chicago Tribune has an article on The Downing Street Memo. Written by Washington Post correspondent Glenn Frankel , the article noted that: In the spring of 2002, two weeks before British Prime Minister Tony Blair journeyed to Crawford, Texas, to meet with President Bush at his ranch about the confrontation with Iraq, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw sounded a warning."The rewards from your visit to Crawford will be few," Straw wrote in a March 25 memo to Blair. "The risks are high, both for you and for the Government."In public, British officials were declaring their solidarity with the Bush administration's calls for elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. But Straw's memo and seven other secret documents disclosed in recent months by British journalist Michael Smith reveal a much different picture. Behind the scenes, key British officials believed the U.S. administration already was committed to a war that they feared was ill-conceived and illegal.
"Yet," Mr. Frankel added, " they could not dissuade their counterparts in the Bush administration nor Blair from going forward."
See "Memos show Britons' doubts over Iraq war. Ministers repeatedly warned premier that U.S. was on thin ice" for more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at June 30, 2005 06:38 AM
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