Guardian: British military chief reveals new legal fears over Iraq war

[paineinthearse]

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1474335,00.html

British military chief reveals new legal fears over Iraq war

· Forces head in remarkable 'jail' claim
· Top law officer met key Bush officials

Antony Barnett and Martin Bright
Sunday May 1, 2005
The Observer

The man who led Britain's armed forces into Iraq has said that Tony Blair and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, will join British soldiers in the dock if the military are ever prosecuted for war crimes in Iraq. In a remarkably frank interview that goes to the heart of the political row over the Attorney General's legal advice, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, the former Chief of the Defence Staff, said he did not have full legal cover from prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC). 'If my soldiers went to jail and I did, some other people would go with me,' said Boyce. In his most detailed explanation yet of why he demanded an unequivocal assurance from lawyers that the war was legal, he said: 'I wanted to make sure that we had this anchor which has been signed by the government law officer ... 'It may not stop us from being charged, but, by God, it would make sure other people were brought into the frame as well.'

Pressed by The Observer on whether he meant the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, Boyce replied: 'Too bloody right.' The admiral added that he had never been shown the crucial 7 March advice by Goldsmith that questioned whether the war was legal. He had only been given a later assurance of legality, which contained none of the caveats. It was only after he questioned Number 10 about legal 'top cover' that he was given Goldsmith's opinion. Boyce has consistently said he believed the war was legal and morally justified. But, asked whether the government had provided him with the legal cover necessary to avoid prosecution for war crimes, he replied: 'No.' He added: 'I think I have done as best as I can do. I have always been troubled by the ICC. Although I was reassured ... when going through Whitehall about five years ago, I was patted on the head and told: "Don't worry, on the day it will be fine." I don't have 100 per cent confidence in that.'

In a further damaging development for the government, documents leaked to a Sunday newspaper appeared to show that Tony Blair was considering military action to topple Saddam Hussein as early as 2002. According to minutes from a meeting held in Downing Street on 23 July, obtained by the Sunday Times, the assumption had been made that 'the UK would take part in any military action' initiated by the United States. Blair said it 'would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors.' He added: 'If the political context were right, people would support regime change.' The minutes confirm that the Attorney General did not believe regime change was a basis for military action.

A further confidential document leaked this weekend is the Foreign Office legal opinion that expressed grave doubts about the legality of war without a second UN resolution. An Observer investigation into the legal ramifications of the war also reveals that Goldsmith's advice authorising war was shaped after meeting the five most powerful Republican lawyers in the Bush administration, in February 2003. These included Alberto Gonzales, Bush's controversial chief legal adviser who has been at the centre of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. Gonzales once famously described elements of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war as 'quaint'.

much more.......

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Go to http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1474335,00.html for hyperlinks to background information:

Key documents: advice to the government
07.03.03: Attorney general's full advice on Iraq war (pdf)
07.03.03: Summary of the attorney general's advice on Iraq war
17.03.03: Full text of the attorney general's published advice

Key documents: UN security council
28.02.03: Hans Blix's report to the UN security council (pdf)
US security council resolution 678 (pdf)
UN security council resolution 687 (pdf)
UN security council resolution 1441 (pdf)

Key documents: House of Commons
18.03.03: Full text of Commons Iraq debate (Hansard)
15.03.03 report: Iraqi non-compliance with UNSCR
Butler report into intelligence on WMD

Analysis
Lord Lester's analysis of the summary of the attorney general's advice of 07.03.03 (pdf)
27.04.2005: Q&A: Lord Goldsmith's legal advice and the Iraq war

Timeline
28.04.2005: Countdown to war

Full coverage
Iraq
Election 2005
UK politics and Iraq
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1472502,00.html

[Voltaire99]

1. Send the lot of them to the Hague

Sharpish.

[Clark2008]

2. And Bush and the members of the PNAC, too.

The Hague's too good for them!