British army chiefs refused to go to war in Iraq until they were reassured over its legality by the country's top law official, according to former cabinet minister Clare Short.
In response, Britain's Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith hastily redrafted his official advice to the government just days before occupation forces launched war last March, to assure the armed forces the conflict would not be illegal, the Observer newspaper disclosed Sunday.
Short, who earlier this week claimed that London spied on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan during the run-up to the Iraq war, told the Observer, "I was told at the highest level ... that the military were saying they wouldn't go (to war), whatever the Prime Minister said without the attorney general's advice.
"The question is was the AG (attorney general) leant on?"
Short, Britain's former international development secretary, quit in May in protest over the invasion of Iraq. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
