Blair Government Anxious To Demonstrate Itself To Be Even More Loathsome Than Bush Administration

So remember when Tony Blair released the UK dossier on Iraq's terrifying WMD in September, 2002?

And Blair wrote in the forward that Iraq could use its WMD "within 45 minutes of an order to use them"?

And this was repeated in the dossier four times?

And three of England's biggest papers—the Sun, the Evening Standard and the Daily Express—all featured the 45 minute claim on their front page? And that the Sun's headline was "Brits 45 Mins from Doom"?

And how in May, 2003 the BBC's Andrew Gilligan reported the dossier had been "sexed up" with the 45 minute claim? And how this led to a giant government investigation, which claimed Gilligan was wrong to say the Blair & co. "probably knew that the 45 minutes claim was wrong or questionable"? And how Gilligan was fired? And how David Kelly, one of the UK WMD specialists, ended up killing himself under the strain of the investigation?

Uh...never mind:

[UK Foreign Secretary] Margaret Beckett has admitted the Government realised before the Iraq war that its 45-minute claim about Saddam Hussein's weapons may have been wrong.

The Foreign Secretary said the claim had not been repeated in Commons debates before the 2003 invasion of Iraq because it was already deemed “irrelevant” and people were wondering if it was really true...

Today Mrs Beckett said: “That was a statement that was made once and it was thought to be of such little relevance — and perhaps people began quickly to say, I'm not sure about that' — that it was never used once in all the debates in the House of Commons.”

Her words imply Mr Blair and ministers quietly dropped the allegation yet failed to withdraw it or correct the record. After speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today show Mrs Beckett was challenged by presenter John Humphrys on why the claim had not been corrected in public.

She retorted: “Oh, come on — nobody thought it was relevant. Nobody thought it was a big sweeping statement.”

(via)