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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (19939)	6/4/2003 5:07:54 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

UK'S BLAIR DESPERATELY SEEKING SCAPEGOATS reuters.co.uk [RGD: Bush's Poodle Shamelessly Lied before the war. Now, at least he's consistent... ] Rogue spies blamed for weapons claims By Katherine Baldwin LONDON (Reuters) - Supporters of Prime Minister Tony Blair have launched a counter-attack against allegations he hyped up claims of Iraq's lethal weapons as Blair braced for a grilling on whether he misled the country. Senior government minister John Reid led an early media offensive, accusing "rogue elements" within the intelligence services of trying to undermine the government with claims it exaggerated evidence of Iraq's weapons. "It is quite frankly a disgrace that the leadership of those intelligence and security services...should have had their integrity impugned over the last week...by one or two unnamed individuals," an angry Reid told BBC Radio on Wednesday. BBC Radio last week quoted an anonymous intelligence official as saying that Blair's Downing Street office had "sexed up" evidence of Iraq's weapons to justify the war. In an earlier interview in The Times, Reid, leader of the House of Commons, said: "There have been uncorroborated briefings by a potentially rogue element -- or indeed rogue elements -- in the intelligence services." Blair, who returned from a week of foreign diplomacy on Tuesday, is expected to continue the offensive at prime minister's question time on Wednesday when he will be challenged by the opposition and disgruntled members of his Labour Party. Blair risked his premiership by defying public opinion to send UK troops to war but he appeared to have emerged unscathed after Saddam's swift fall. The failure however to discover any of Iraq's suspected chemical, biological or nuclear weapons -- the original Anglo-American motive for war -- has put him back in the dock. Reid's comments came as two parliamentary committees prepared to launch a probe into the case made for war against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The probes coincide with planned Senate committee hearings in Washington over the U.S. government's grounds for war. But the UK inquiries are unlikely to silence Blair's critics, many of them within his own Labour Party, which was split over war. Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said late on Tuesday it will probe the decision to wage war and claims of Iraq's lethal weapons. While the committee is cross-party and deemed independent, it may not have access to sensitive information. Blair is expected to announce on Wednesday a separate inquiry by the Joint Intelligence and Security Committee, a parliamentary committee that scrutinises the intelligence services but that reports directly back to him. As the debate raged, a poll on Wednesday showed that Blair risks losing voters' support if no weapons are found in Iraq. A YouGov survey for Sky News found that trust in Blair even amongst Labour supporters would decline if no lethal weapons were found. It said 48 percent of voters who backed Labour to its 2001 landslide victory would no longer trust Blair on other political matters.