Saddam Not Main Concern to U.K. Before War

(AP)  Iran and Libya - not Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq - were Britain's main security concerns before the invasion of Iraq, Foreign Office officials testified Wednesday at an inquiry probing Britain's role in the war.

William Ehrman, the Foreign Office's director of international security from 2000 to 2002, said "in terms of nuclear and missiles, I think Iran, North Korea and Libya were probably of greater concern than Iraq."

The inquiry, billed as the most sweeping look yet at the conflict, was in its second day of hearing public evidence. It is examining Britain's involvement in Iraq, beginning with the run-up to the 2003 invasion and concluding in July 2009.

The Iraq war, which left 179 British soldiers dead, was deeply unpopular in Britain. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is to be called to testify before the inquiry, which is headed by retired civil servant John Chilcot.

The panel isn't expected to report before the end of next year, and won't establish criminal or civil liability.

Tim Dowse, the Foreign Office's head of counter-proliferation between 2001 to 2003, agreed with Ehrman, telling the panel that Iraq "wasn't top of the list."

"In terms of my concerns on coming into the job in 2001, I would say we put Libya and Iran ahead of Iraq," he said.

Dowse said while Saddam had supported Palestinian groups, his government's contact with al Qaeda-linked groups was sporadic.

(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

"There had been nothing that looked like a relationship between the Iraqis and al Qaeda," he said. "In fact, after 9/11, we concluded that Iraq actually stepped further back. They did not want to be associated with al Qaeda. They weren't natural allies."

(Left: Anti-war protesters from the "Stop the War" group, wearing masks depicting, from left, former U.S. President George W. Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, pose for photographers outside the site of the Iraq war inquiry, in London, Nov. 24, 2009.)

The United States and Britain, its main ally, launched the war to deny Saddam weapons of mass destruction, but it later turned out he did not have any.


For more info:
The Iraq Inquiry
By Associated Press Writer Jennifer Quinn

[rickyg2]

we talk about democracy,but when a country doesn't want to do what we want them to,we decide to invade or change their regime.what a joke we are.

[sonofsummarex]

The one good sign of justice to come is that all these murderous players are already imprisoned in their own countries because the minute they step foot outside they stand an increasingly good chance of being handcuffed and arrested for war crimes.

[sonofsummarex]

The invasion of Iraq, the murder of President Hussein nand his two sons and the murder of about one hundred thousand Iraqis Is a war crime of incredible proportion that can not go unpunished. The culprits, in Washington, London, Texas or Jerusalem must be rounded up, put on trial, found guilty and executed.

[apuan777]

Search "Saddam Mass Graves"...The number of documented iraqi civilians mass executed under Saddam is around 1.6 million. The actual numbers are unknown. That alone is enough for an invasion.

[sonofsummarex]

Apaun777:

Most of the Iraqi civillians died during the Iran/Iraq war as a result of Iranian action and during the Shiite uprisings that took place during that war, and again when the US attacked in 91. In the case of the uprisings, the Iraqis had every right to crush them in defense of national sovereignty. Iraq was a a nearly impossible countr to govern in part on account of its three way ethnic split. Hussein knew how to do it and that's why he was president. He acted exactly as he any bresp[onsible leader would have. The rape of Iraq was an act of criminal agression abd the culprits must be punished severely. I would suuggest that you stop taking your political cues from sources run out of Jerusalem.