UK diplomat: US was 'hell bent' on Iraq invasion

[deminks]

Source: Assiciated Press

LONDON – The United States was "hell bent" on a 2003 military invasion of Iraq and actively undermined efforts by Britain to win international authorization for the war, a former British diplomat told an inquiry Friday.

Jeremy Greenstock, British ambassador to the United Nations from 1998 to 2003, said that President George W. Bush had no real interest in attempts to agree on a U.N. resolution to provide explicit backing for the conflict.

The ex-diplomat, who served as Britain's envoy in Iraq after the invasion, said serious preparations for the war had begun in early 2002 and took on an unstoppable momentum.

As diplomats frantically attempted in early 2003 to agree upon a U.N. resolution approving a military offensive, Bush's key aides grew impatient — criticizing the process as an unnecessary distraction, he said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091127/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_iraq_inquiry_25

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Sneer." - xVP Dickie 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney (R)

[Submariner]

3. F'in stinkin' incompetent drunk who had no business as a SCOTUS appointee to the presidency

Republicans must be so proud…Hypocrisy you can count on.

[Zoeisright]

4. I will never forget that Daily Mirror cover.

Right to the point and so true.

[Turborama]

17. Are pages 2,4,5,6,7 & 11 available to read online?

Sounds like an interesting take on what went on.

[Mari333]

5. shhh. we are supposed to 'forget about it'

the wanton murder of millions of Iraqis and thousands of our soldiers. torture, payoffs, bribes. we are supposed to 'move on'.
You think any of these assholes will be held accountable??

dont hold your breath.

[Solly Mack]

6. Ah..really? Who knew?

Snort

[Faygo Kid]

7. So obvious at the time. Nice work, news media.

With the New York Times (Judith Miller), Washington Post and assorted other enablers and cheerleaders for war "hell bent" on aiding and abetting Bush and the rest of the war criminals, we never stood a chance of stopping it, despite all the marches and protests (buried by the media). Congress? Profile in no courage. Dark days indeed.

[Overseas]

8. K&R. Yes they were.

Determined to destroy our national security for years to come.

And to enrich themselves through war profiteering.

[Flaneur]

9. And a bipartisan majority in Congress supported it.

[LeftishBrit]

10. So they were, and so was Blair.

A modern Mad King George, and a British Benedict Arnold.

[cowcommander]

11. Britain needs to kick Labour out for this

Blair isn't enough, the party responsible for this is still in power there!

[Turborama]

15. It's a real shame it won't be the Liberal Democrats that will be replacing them

Instead, it's more likely to be the other party that supported the illegal invasion:

In the United Kingdom, both the governing Labour Party and the official opposition Conservative Party were in favour of the invasion. The Liberal Democrats insisted on a U.N. resolution; they opposed the war as a result.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Iraq_War#Opposition_in_European_countries

[LeftishBrit]

16. Be careful what you wish for.

It is extremely likely that Labour will indeed be kicked out - and replaced by the Tories who are very much worse, and almost all of whom supported the invasion as well.

What one should really wish for is that 'New Labour' should be internally replaced by the older, more left-wing variety of Labourites, who would then go on to win. Or that the LibDems should take over. Neither of which is remotely likely to happen in the near future.

[kpete]

12. US ‘hell bent’ on Iraq War, says UK envoy

Source: Associated Press


US ‘hell bent’ on Iraq War, says UK envoy
November 28, 2009, 5:19pm

LONDON (AP) — The US was "hell bent'' on a 2003 military invasion of Iraq and actively undermined efforts by Britain to win international authorization for the war, a former British diplomat told an inquiry.

Jeremy Greenstock, British ambassador to the United Nations from 1998 to 2003, said Friday that President George W. Bush had no real interest in attempts to agree on a UN resolution to provide explicit backing for the conflict.

The ex-diplomat, who served as Britain's envoy in Iraq after the invasion, said serious preparations for the war had begun in early 2002 and took on an unstoppable momentum. As diplomats frantically attempted in early 2003 to agree upon a UN resolution approving a military offensive, Bush's key aides grew impatient, criticizing the process as an unnecessary distraction, he said.

Grumbling from Washington "included noises about 'this is a waste of time, what we need is regime change, why are we bothering with this, we must sweep this aside and do what's going to have to be done anyway, and deal with this with the use of force,''' Greenstock testified before the inquiry into the Iraq war.

Read more: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/231594/us-hell-bent-iraq-war-says-uk-envoy

[babylonsister]

13. Yes, even to the point of lying us into it. nt

[mdmc]

14. YES we did

I remember on 9-12-01 thinking "On to Iraq!"

[L. Coyote]

18. What would President Gore have done?

The worse moment in US history was Junta Day, 12-12-2000.

[truedelphi]

19. If you really want this to be a current up to date discussion, just change

The "Q" In Iraq to an "N" for Iran.