After two years, one war and at least 16,000 deaths, the Government finally admits it.
13 October 2004
Tony Blair's claim that Iraq was within 45 minutes of launching weapons of mass destruction a central plank of his case for war fell apart yesterday as the Foreign Secretary formally withdrew the infamous claim and revealed MI6 had abandoned its source for the bogus intelligence.
In a humiliating climbdown, Jack Straw told MPs in a special Commons statement that MI6 has severed ties with the sources for both the 45-minute claim and intelligence that Saddam Hussein had produced a biological weapons agent in 2000.
The decision to lay to rest the most notorious intelligence claim in the case for war increased pressure from Labour and opposition MPs for the Prime Minister to make a full personal apology for the decision to invade Iraq "on a false premise".
Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, said: "The withdrawal of the 45-minute claim drives a horse and cart through government credibility."
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So Blair lied. Straw lied. And Bush lied. Will any one of them ever be held accountable? David Kelly told the truth, they did sex up the dossier. For that he lost his life. Where's the justice?
edit: add link
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=571592