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Documents reveal Tony Blair was repeatedly told it was illegal to invade Iraq when it was illegal, but he ordered British troops to do it anyway. Photo/REUTERS
LONDON – Former Prime Minister English Tony Blair ordered invasion of Iraq in 1998 despite being repeatedly told that such actions were against the law. This was revealed in documents published by Declassified UK on Monday (17/4/2023).
Blair was following a similar pattern—insisting that illegal military action was legal—when Britain invaded Iraq in 2003.
The US and UK launched a four-day bombing campaign against Iraq in December 1998, after then-US President Bill Clinton accused President Saddam Hussein of violating commitments to the United Nations and developing weapons of mass destruction. As many as 1,400 Iraqi troops were killed in attacks on about 100 military facilities.
In the lead-up to the bombing, Blair was repeatedly told by advisers that using force against Iraq would be illegal without a resolution from the United Nations Security Council, according to documents from the National Archives cited by Declassified UK, an investigative outlet focused on Britain’s military and intelligence agencies.
Attorney General John Morris is reported to have informed Blair in November 1997 that obtaining a statement from the UN Security Council would be an “important prerequisite” for military action.
Meanwhile, Blair’s private secretary, John Holmes, told the prime minister at the time that British legal officials and Secretary of State Robin Cook had serious concerns about the use of force unless the UN Security Council ruled that Iraq was in “material breach” of an earlier resolution.
When legal officers refused to authorize the military to devise targeting plans, Blair reportedly wrote to Holmes, stating that he found their arguments “unconvincing”.
Blair received constant warnings throughout 1998, according to the Declassified UK report, in which Cook’s private secretary wrote to Holmes in February warning that “the negative implications for international support if we take military action without new resolutions will be serious.”
When Blair announced military action to Parliament in November, he stated: “I have no doubt that we have the proper legal authority, as contained in successive Security Council (UN) resolution documents.”
