Tuesday, July 1, 2025
  • About us
    • Write for us
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms of use
    • Privacy Policy
  • RSS Feeds
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
DefenceTalk
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
DefenceTalk
No Result
View All Result
Home Defence & Military News Defense Geopolitics News War News

UK ‘Misled’ and Iraq War Unjustified, Says Gordon Brown

by UK Ministry of Defence
November 7, 2017
in War News
3 min read
0
An M-198 155mm Howitzer of the US Marines

An M-198 155mm Howitzer of the US Marines

14
VIEWS

Gordon Brown has claimed the UK was “misled” over Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and the Iraq War was unjustified.

The former prime minister, who was chancellor when the decision to go to war in 2003 was made, has revealed top-secret US intelligence casting serious doubt over the dictator’s destructive capabilities was not shared with Britain.

He said that he only became aware of “crucial” papers held by the US Department of Defence after leaving office.

Mr Brown believes the course of history could have been different had the information been shared.

He said: “When I consider the rush to war in March, 2003 – especially in light of what we now know about the absence of weapons of mass destruction – I ask myself over and over whether I could have made more of a difference before that fateful decision was taken.

“We now know from classified American documents, that in the first days of September 2002 a report prepared by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff’s director for intelligence landed on the desk of the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.

“Commissioned by Rumsfeld to identify gaps in the US intelligence picture, it is now clear how forcibly this report challenged the official view.

“If I am right that somewhere within the American system the truth about Iraq’s lack of weapons was known, then we were not just misinformed but misled on the critical issue of WMDs.

“Given that Iraq had no usable chemical, biological or nuclear weapons that it could deploy and was not about to attack the coalition, then two tests of a just war were not met: war could not be justified as a last resort and invasion cannot now be seen as a proportionate response.”

The UK was part of the coalition led by the US which invaded Iraq after American president George W Bush and Tony Blair accused the dictator of possessing weapons of mass destruction and having links to terrorists.

Mr Brown added that some form of international action was appropriate due to Saddam’s continued failure to comply with UN resolutions.

As chancellor, Mr Brown said his only official role was to find funds for the war.

After an inquiry lasting seven years, the Chilcot Report found the former Iraqi dictator posed ”no imminent threat” at the time of the invasion of his country in 2003, and the war was unleashed on the basis of ”flawed” intelligence.

Mr Brown said British intelligence which he and Mr Blair saw in 2002 suggested a capability, if not a production programme, of weapons of mass destruction.

However, the top-secret US report is said to have conceded that knowledge of the Iraqi nuclear weapons programme was based largely – perhaps 90% – on analysis of inaccurate intelligence.

In his latest book My Life, Our Times – due for release on Tuesday – Mr Brown claims the paper suggested previous assessments relied “heavily on analytic assumptions” rather than hard evidence and even refuted the country’s capability to create weapons of mass destruction.

He added: “I was told they knew where the weapons were housed. I remember thinking at the time that it was almost as if they could give me the street name and number where they were located.

“It is astonishing that none of us in the British government ever saw this American report.”

One month after Rumsfeld’s confidential paper, President Bush went on record for the first time with the assertion that Iraq “possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons” and was “seeking nuclear weapons”.

It is not known who – if anyone – in the US administration had seen the dossier.

Tags: iraq warmiddle eastUK
Previous Post

Receiving the First F-35 Lighting II Is A Major Milestone for Norway

Next Post

Netanyahu associates grilled in German submarine graft probe: report

Related Posts

Trump announces ‘full and immediate’ India-Pakistan ceasefire

Trump announces ‘full and immediate’ India-Pakistan ceasefire

May 10, 2025

US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan after days of deadly jet fighter,...

Pakistan says Indian missiles strike air bases as conflict spirals

Pakistan says Indian missiles strike air bases as conflict spirals

May 10, 2025

Pakistan's military on Saturday said India launched another wave of missiles targeting three air bases -- including one on the...

Next Post
Israel opens criminal investigation into German submarine contract

Netanyahu associates grilled in German submarine graft probe: report

Latest Defense News

Britain, Germany jointly developing missiles: ministers

Britain, Germany jointly developing missiles: ministers

May 17, 2025
Trump announces ‘full and immediate’ India-Pakistan ceasefire

Trump announces ‘full and immediate’ India-Pakistan ceasefire

May 10, 2025
Pakistan says Indian missiles strike air bases as conflict spirals

Pakistan says Indian missiles strike air bases as conflict spirals

May 10, 2025
J-10C fighter jet

Pakistan says India has brought neighbours ‘closer to major conflict’

May 9, 2025
North Korea fires multiple suspected cruise missiles

North Korea fires flurry of short-range ballistic missiles

May 9, 2025
China says ‘closely watching’ Ukraine situation after Russian attack

China vows to stand with Russia in face of ‘hegemonic bullying’

May 9, 2025

Defense Forum Discussions

  • Indonesia: 'green water navy'
  • Middle East Defence & Security
  • The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread
  • Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] News, Discussions and Updates
  • The Spanish Navy - Armada Española
  • China - Geostrategic & Geopolitical.
  • Military Aviation News and Discussion
  • ADF General discussion thread
  • Unmanned and Autonomous Air Vehicles
  • Australian Army Discussions and Updates
DefenceTalk

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com

Navigate Site

  • Defence Forum
  • Military Photos
  • RSS Feeds
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com