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Guardian and Independent on Straw

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cal04 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-07-06 02:32 PM
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Guardian and Independent on Straw
The Washington connection: Did Bush stick the knife into Jack Straw?
US neocons are delighted at the demotion of a Blair minister lacking in total loyalty to their agenda.
Jack Straw's fate was sealed in a phone call from the White House to Tony Blair last month, according to the former foreign secretary's friends. They say President George Bush was furious that Mr Straw said it was "nuts" to use nuclear weapons against Iran, an option reported to be under active consideration in Washington.

Downing Street had already warned Mr Straw repeatedly to tone down his complete rejection of the military route as "inconceivable", insisting it was important to keep all options on the table. The division between Mr Straw on the one hand and Mr Bush and Mr Blair on the other was exposed in Prime Minister's Questions on 19 April, although few realised the significance of the exchanges. Sir Menzies Campbell asked Mr Blair whether he agreed with his Foreign Secretary that military action against Iran would be "inconceivable" and that the use of nuclear weapons would be "nuts".

An uncomfortable-looking PM said that while "nobody is talking about a military invasion" now was "not the time to send a message of weakness. The President of the US is not going to take any option off the table. That is perfectly sensible for all the reasons the President has himself given many, many times".

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article362559.ece

The two crucial mistakes that cost Straw his job
Jack Straw made two crucial mistakes in his dealings with Tony Blair: one involved the prime minister's relationship with Gordon Brown and the other Iran. Mr Straw has said repeatedly that it is "inconceivable" that there will be a military strike on Iran and last month dismissed as "nuts" a report that George Bush was keeping on the table the option of using tactical nuclear weapons against Tehran's nuclear plants. His fate was sealed when the White House called Mr Blair and asked why the foreign secretary kept saying these things.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1768840,00.html
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