I never had much regard for that “Colin Powell the dove” line — did anybody doubt this “shift” would come eventually?
Some US government sources have suggested that Mr Bush told Mr Powell to “get with the programme” and recognise that war was inevitable. It is perhaps more likely that Mr Powell himself saw the writing was on the wall. “He felt he would have more influence inside the tent than outside it,” said one senior European diplomat in Washington. “That’s been Powell’s pattern over the years. He knew the president had crossed a line so he followed him.”
And let’s not forget this, as the claims mount…
There are no current links between the Iraqi regime and the al-Qaeda network, according to an official British intelligence report seen by BBC News.
The classified document, written by defence intelligence staff three weeks ago, says there has been contact between the two in the past.
But it assessed that any fledgling relationship foundered due to mistrust and incompatible ideologies.
That conclusion flatly contradicts one of the main charges laid against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein by the United States and Britain – that he has cultivated contacts with the group blamed for the 11 September attacks.
The report emerges even as Washington was calling Saddam a liar for denying, in a television interview with former Labour MP and minister Tony Benn, that he had any links to al-Qaeda.
::Toby Harnden, London Telegraph: French betrayal turns reluctant warrior Powell into a hawk
::BBC: Leaked report rejects Iraqi al-Qaeda link
…both (and much, much worse) via Dack
