Former UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw defends Iraq war decision to investigators

Ex-UK foreign secretary defends Iraq war decision

LONDON — Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the country’s Iraq Inquiry on Thursday that he agonized over the decision to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein with force, but feels officials made the best decision they could.

“I believed at the time, and I still believe, that we made the best judgments we could have done in the circumstances,” Straw said in a written statement presented as evidence. “We did so assiduously and on the best evidence we had available at the time.”

Straw, a key figure in former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s administration, said the decision to go to war was the most difficult he has ever made. He also testified before the inquiry Thursday afternoon to explain his decision to back the war plan, which had the strong support of U.S. President George W. Bush.

Straw asserted that had he opposed the plan, Blair would have been unable to persuade the rest of the Cabinet and the Parliament to support the decision to invade, and the war plan would not have been implemented.

He said he knew many were “very angry” about the decision to join the U.S.-led invasion rather than seek a diplomatic solution or keep trying to contain the Iraqi dictator.

Straw, currently serving as Britain’s justice minister, said he deeply regrets the loss of life caused by the war and its aftermath. But he said there was no way for officials to know that the widely accepted claim that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction would turn out to be inaccurate.

The official inquiry started in November. Many top figures in the Blair administration have already been questioned, and Blair is scheduled to be next week.

Former officials have denied exaggerating or distorting claims about Saddam’s weapons to build public support for the war.

Straw said British intelligence reports closely matched the conclusions reached by spy agencies in other countries, reinforcing the belief that Saddam had an extensive arsenal.

“We had no reason to disbelieve the intelligence,” he said in his written statement.

Straw told the committee there was so much concern that Saddam would use his weapons of mass destruction that officials at the Foreign Office in London were given protective gear in anticipation of an attack.

He said he was “profoundly” concerned about the widespread opposition to the war among the British public, including many of his personal friends and his constituency, which includes a large Muslim population. He said he never considered resigning, despite his reluctance to back an invasion without explicit United Nations support.

On another matter, Straw told the committee he was frustrated by Britain’s inability to shape U.S. policy toward Israel in an effort to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which was seen as a prime irritant in the bid for overall Middle East peace.

He said the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel undermined Britain’s bid for a policy shift.

The former top diplomat described the American policymaking process as extremely complex, with dueling political appointees arguing with each other in a bid to eventually win the president’s support. Straw said his U.S. counterpart at the time, Secretary of State Colin Powell, believed his peace efforts in the Middle East were consistently being undermined.