[Mb-civic] Guardian Unlimited: Attorney general told Blair war could be illegal

[harry.sifton at sympatico.ca]

HS spotted this on the Guardian Unlimited site and thought you should see it.

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Attorney general told Blair war could be illegal
Secret advice leaked to Guardian
Richard Norton-Taylor
Wednesday April 27 2005
The Guardian


Tony Blair was told by the government's most senior law officer in a confidential minute less than two weeks before the war that British participation in the American-led invasion of Iraq could be declared illegal.Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, spelt out to Mr Blair the dangers of Britain going to war without a second resolution. It is understood that he then went on to warn that British soldiers could be hauled before the International Criminal Court.He warned that while he could be able to argue a "reasonable case" in favour of military action, he was far from confident a court would agree. Indeed, he added, a court "might well conclude" that war would be found unlawful without a further UN resolution.In a legal opinion which Mr Blair has repeatedly sought to conceal, the attorney warned the prime minister that Britain might be able argue it could go to war on the basis of past UN resolutions, but only if there were "strong factual grounds" that Iraq was still in bre
 ach of its disarmament obligations.Lord Goldsmith's 13-page minute was sent to Mr Blair on March 7 2003. That very day, Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, declared that Iraq had made "substantial" progress in destroying its long-range missiles, and that he had found no evidence of biological or chemical weapons.Lord Goldsmith's legal opinion was not seen by the cabinet, in apparent breach of the official code covering ministerial behaviour.It is in stark contrast to the parliamentary answer issued by Lord Goldsmith 10 days later, on March 17 2003, which was read out to the cabinet. In it, the attorney said it was "plain" Iraq was in breach of its UN disarmament obligations.That assertion was made in a few days of frantic activity with Lord Boyce, the chief of defence staff, demanding an unequivocal opinion that an invasion was lawful. Lord Goldsmith asked Downing Street for Mr Blair's view.Downing Street replied that it was "indeed, the prime minister's unequivocal v
 iew" that Iraq was still in breach.However, according to extracts from his confidential minute written just ten days earlier, the attorney warned Mr Blair: · "the language of resolution 1441 [the last UN resolution on Iraq before the war] leaves the position unclear"; · "I remain of the opinion that the safest legal course would be to secure the adoption of a further resolution to authorise the use of force";  · "We would need to be able to demonstrate hard evidence of [Iraqi] non-compliance and non-cooperation";  · "You will need to consider very carefully whether the evidence of non-cooperation and non-compliance by Iraq is sufficiently compelling to justify the conclusion that Iraq has failed to take its final opportunity'.Lord Goldsmith reveals that his predecessors had advised that the legality of British bombing of Iraq in Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and of Kosovo the following year was "no more than reasonably arguable".

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