Anti-War Activists Press For Release Of Iraq Documents

Anti-War Activists Press For Release Of Iraq Documents
NOV 2013
Saturday 9TH
posted by Morning Star in Britain


Peace campaigners scold David Cameron

Peace campaigners scolded David Cameron yesterday after the Tory Prime Minister excused the cover-up documents that would reveal the full story behind Britain's invasion of Iraq.

Sir John Chilcot has made 10 requests for access to the classified information in order to conclude his inquiry into 2003 attack and publish a report.

They include 130 transcripts of conversations between former Labour prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown with former US president George Bush.

Details of around 200 cabinet discussions and 25 notes from Mr Blair to Mr Bush are also included in the documents.

But Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood has stalled the process over what Mr Cameron called concerns over "sensitivity" in a letter to Mr Chilcot.

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament leader Kate Hudson accused the government of driving the inquiry from the long grass and "into the woods."

She said: "How much longer can they keep up this charade? It is now over a decade since Tony Blair took the UK into a bloody war in Iraq based on a lie.

"To say these conversations are 'central' to the inquiry is an understatement - they are crucial to understanding the path to war, including if Blair guaranteed unconditional UK support for an illegal invasion."

Menzies Campbell, who was Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman at the time of the invasion, also labelled the hold-up as "intolerable."

He added: "The Iraq adventure is one of the most serious failures of government policy in the last 50 years."