Lord Goldsmith warned ministers that Iraq war would be illegal
Lord Goldsmith, then the attorney general, warned Cabinet ministers in 2002 that he did not believe attacking Iraq would be legal.
The law officer wrote to ministers in March 2002, almost exactly a year before the UK joined the US in invading Iraq and toppling Saddam Hussein.
Documents released today by Sir John Chilcot’s inquiry into the war show that Lord Goldsmith wrote to rebuke Geoff Hoon, then the defence secretary, for stating publicly that war could be justified in international law.
Mr Hoon made the claim in a television interview on March 24, 2002.
Four days later, Lord Goldsmith wrote him a formal note, prepared by his office and kept in Whitehall files. The letter was also sent to Jack Straw, then the foreign secretary.
Lord Goldsmith made clear in the note that at the time, he did not see clear legal justification for an attack.
He told Mr Hoon: “As you are aware, the Law Officers’ opinion has not been sought on the legality of possible action and I have not therefore offered any views on the legal position. The clarity of your statement and the apparently authoritative way it was produced puts me however in a difficult position.
He said: “I see considerable difficulties in being satisfied that military action would be justified on the basis of self defence.”
Lord Goldsmith added: “In particular I am not aware of the existence of material indicating the existence of an imminent threat from Iraq of the sort which would justify military action without support of a Security Council … authorisation.”
Lord Goldsmith’s role in the discussions before the war is central to the inquiry. The law officer changed his view on the legality of military action shortly before the invasion took place in March 2003.
That has led to reports questioning whether Lord Goldsmith was put under pressure to alter his advice from Tony Blair and allies of the then prime minister.
Telegraph | James Kirkup | Tue, Jan 19, 2010
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