Blair and Bush went to war in Iraq despite South Africa's WMD assurances

[malaise]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/30/blair-and-bush-went-to-war-in-iraq-despite-south-africas-wmd-assurances
<snip>
Tony Blair went to war in Iraq despite a report by South African experts with unique knowledge of the country that showed it did not possess weapons of mass destruction, according to a book published on Sunday.
Tony Blair makes qualified apology for Iraq war ahead of Chilcot report
Read more

God, Spies and Lies, by South African journalist John Matisonn, describes how then president Thabo Mbeki tried in vain to convince both Blair and President George W Bush that toppling Saddam Hussein in 2003 would be a terrible mistake.

Mbeki’s predecessor, Nelson Mandela, also tried to convince the American leader, but was left fuming that “President Bush doesn’t know how to think”.

The claim was this week supported by Mbeki’s office, which confirmed that he pleaded with both leaders to heed the WMD experts and even offered to become their intermediary with Saddam in a bid to maintain peace.

South Africa had a special insight into Iraq’s potential for WMD because the apartheid government’s own biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programme in the 1980s led the countries to collaborate. The programme was abandoned after the end of white minority rule in 1994 but the expert team, known as Project Coast, was put back together by Mbeki to investigate the US and UK assertion that Saddam had WMD – the central premise for mounting an invasion.

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I hope that one day soon these war criminals will be sent to the Hague. There will be no peace on our planet until that day

[brer cat]

1. Love the Mandela quote:

"President Bush doesn't know how to think."

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Immediately followed by the phrase "The claim was this week supported by Mbeki’s office ..."

I know there's a paragraph break in there, but I still think someone was trying to say something.

[malaise]

5. +1,000

Same here

[raccoon]

2. Off to Greatest with you! nt

[reallygosh]

3. Rocket Molds.

When the news was all about planes buried in the sand, Doctor Death, and whatever could be viewed as a danger. The UN inspectors observed the destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction the "New Scud."

We went in anyway. We were already packed.

Dick and W and General Electric got their way.

Hillary is just a well thought out mistake.

Go Bernie!

[Octafish]

6. Kick for Justice.

Never forget who was a good dog and earned a treat from the master.