Ban on revealing Tony Blair's secret files angers Iraq inquiry chief

[Ghost Dog]

Source: London Evening Standard

A cover-up row erupted when the official Iraq inquiry complained it had been banned from revealing records of the secret invasion talks between Tony Blair and George Bush.

In a bombshell statement, inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot revealed that "critical" evidence was being withheld from the public on the orders of Britain's top civil servant.

The hidden papers include minutes of discussions and private memos sent by the former prime minister to the US president who led the 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. "The inquiry is disappointed that the Cabinet Secretary was not willing to accede to its request," said Sir John, adding: "This means that in a narrow but important area the inquiry may not always be able to publish as fully as it would wish the evidential basis for some of its comments and conclusions."

...

Experts on Iraq have long been convinced that Mr Blair made private pledges to president Bush that were never admitted by his government.

Read more: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23915291-ban-on-revealing-tony-blairs-secret-files-angers-iraq-inquiry-chief.do

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The "top civil servant" referred to is the current Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell.


Proving that last charge - that Blair made private pledges to Bush - would surely leave Blair open to further charges of outright treason: Privately conspiring with a foreign power (or one who was himself a treasonous representative thereof) to place the UK in a position detrimental to its interests (but calculated to be favorable to those of the 'friends of Bush & Blair').

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. The power of BushCo is not diminished

These guys really do run huge swaths of the planet

[ladjf]

4. Yes they do. And the more the public knows about their nefarious

operations the better off we will be.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Maybe he should check with Assange?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. I'm sure Wikileaks has something tucked away in the cabinet on that

[ladjf]

3. Welcome to the world of governmental obfuscation. "Gotta keep

those secretes away from the slaves or we might not be able to steal so much money easily. We don't want any restless slaves."

[JDPriestly]

5. Secrecy of this kind is not compatible with representative government.

We have to choose. Either we allow our elected officials and representatives to keep secrets from us about matters of public interest or we have representative government in one form or another. -- a

When officials can keep secrets of this sort -- secrets about things that happened years ago, then we have a dictatorship, not a representative form of government.

[ladjf]

6. Excellent point. Thanks for adding it. nt

[Turborama]

8. Blair-Bush notes will remain secret

Source: Press Association Via The Guardian

The head of the civil service has refused to allow the official inquiry into the Iraq War to publish notes sent by Tony Blair to former US president George Bush.

Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell denied requests for exchanges between the former prime minister and Mr Bush about Iraq to be declassified and released.

Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot said: "The inquiry is disappointed that the Cabinet Secretary was not willing to accede to its request. This means that in a narrow but important area the inquiry may not always be able to publish as fully as it would wish the evidential basis for some of its comments and conclusions."

Sir John wrote to Sir Gus last month asking him to authorise the declassification of extracts from notes sent by Mr Blair to Mr Bush and records of discussions between the two leaders.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/9457465

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So, the Tories are protecting Tony and George? What a surprise.

I am surprised to hear that copies of these notes still exist in the UK, though. Are there copies at the other end still? Oh yeah, and what happened to all those thousands of emails that went missing early 2009?

[madrchsod]

9. two war criminals walk around free....

[villager]

10. and thus the *absolute necessity* of something like WikiLeaks...

n/t

[mike_c]

13. +1

[NeoConsSuck]

16. You nailed it !!

[johnroshan]

19. Exactly!! Stop hiding crimes behind "classification".

Governments all over the world are hiding criminal activities behind the cover of classification. Looks like we need an independent branch to decide if any information is to be classified.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. Convenient.

Wake up!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. Slip sliding away...

[Solly Mack]

14. K&R

Snort

[Matilda]

15. We need Wikileaks.

And we need them now!

[Festivito]

17. Also, DU linked: Chilcot fury as Blair/Bush memos kept secret

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x222474

[Blacksheep214]

18. The import of Wikileaks!

As we were told post 9-11, if you've got nothing to hide you've nothing to worry about!

[Javaman]

20. One note leaked to the press: moron* to poodle...

"Tony, I still have to use the bathroom, should I go? Condi never gave me an answer."

[JohnyCanuck]

21. Blair's letters to Bush about invasion of Iraq 'were removed from official records for being sensiti

Tony Blair's private letters to George Bush on Iraq were considered so sensitive they were expunged from the official Whitehall record, it was disclosed today.

Evidence released by the Iraq Inquiry shows that No 10 officials drew up two accounts of the then prime minister's dealings with the US President - with all references to their correspondence being removed from the version for general circulation.

Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot yesterday expressed his frustration that Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell had refused to clear even limited extracts from the letters for publication by the inquiry.

The assurances which Mr Blair gave to Mr Bush regarding his support for US military action against Iraq are expected to form a key element of the questioning when the former prime minister appears before the inquiry for a second time on Friday.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348597/Iraq-inquiry-Tony-Blairs-letters-George-Bush-removed-official-records.html#ixzz1BWv6SCn6