Former head of the UK military knew Blair’s WMD claims were a lie at the time

A former top British general has revealed he knew Tony Blair was lying about Iraq having Weapon’s of Mass Destruction (WMD) before the 2003 war.

Field Marshal Lord David Richards told the Independent’s World of Trouble podcast that is was generally known in the military’s upper echelons that Blair’s claims were lies. The Independent reported:

As a major general and deputy head of the army under General Sir Mike Jackson, he said it was clear to him that Tony Blair’s government was lying about its claims that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons in Iraq.

Alongside other senior officers, he questioned the legality of the UK’s decision to join US forces in invading Iraq in 2003.

Despite this, Richards seems to have gone along with the war anyway. In fact, he became one of it’s most forceful advocates.

Dodgy dossier

Richard served around the world before becoming head of the military from 2009 to 2013.

But he recalled how back in 2002, Blair’s so-called ‘dodgy dossier’ was a topic of deep concern with top generals ahead of the war. This is the now-debunked document compiled to as evidence of Iraq’s possession of weapons of massive destruction deployable within 45 minutes.

It was authored partly by centrist podcast and former Labour comms boss Alistair Campbell.

Richards said:

I and others encouraged the chief of defence staff [Mike Jackson] to query whether this was legal and what was the basis of this intelligence.

He added:

I do remember one officer – who I won’t name but was on the intelligence side – saying, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll find something to put.’ Yeah, ‘don’t worry. We’ll find something about that. We’ll justify what we were doing’.

I went back to say to Mike Jackson, ‘This stinks.’

Richards seems to be saying senior military intelligence officials were desperate to find something – anything – which could justify the war.

Iraq War returns – again

Ultimately Richards went along with the 2003 war. And the Iraq invasion and occupation were a disaster which still haunts the British establishment to this day. Though many of the main players, like Campbell and Blair, have not only escaped any serious consequences but, obscenely, still participate in public life.

In the years since, criticism has often focused on British politicians. This narrative often frames Blair and his cohort as the ones pushing Britain towards war and the military as being merely dragged along behind.

The truth is less flattering for figures like Richards. Other assessments, like the 2018 Warrior Nation report point out:

…the military had actively lobbied for the maximum role for the armed forces in the US led invasion of Iraq… 2003.

In fact, despite his misgivings, Richards himself:

lobbied hard for the Army’s involvement in the war even though he was ‘uneasy about the war’.

It can take a bit of work to get past the decades of obfuscation by those who led Britain into the war. Once you do, you’ll discover that’s its really a very big case of Fucking Around and Finding Out. And that’s why they don’t like to talk about it too much.

Featured image via the Canary