Why Can't Blair Escape the 'Intelligence Gate' Case?

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 02, 2003

Why Can't Blair Escape the 'Intelligence Gate' Case?

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The "intelligence gate" case investigation has entered a crucial moment in Britain. On August 28 Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared in court for the first time, testifying that the government hadn't fabricated facts for its attack on Iraq.

Blair has exceptionally eloquent tongue, and it can be said that this is known to everybody in Britain, on the very day the hearing was held, the supreme court was packed with people, Blair appeared somewhat nervous, he paused to drink some water from time to time, but this did not affect his approach display of his ready tongue. During the two-hour hearing, Blair answered questions fluently, without any omission, once again making people understand his silver tongue. In his speech, Blair indicated that if BBC's accusation as enshrined in the document on Iraq was true, he should have resigned long ago.

However, the excellent performance did not reduce pressure on Blair. On August 29, the day after his appearance in the court, the Daily Telegraph conducted a poll which showed that the rate of support for Blair came to a new low, only 22 percent of the people surveyed thought that the Blair administration was honest and trustworthy, which was a world of difference compared to the trust he earned from 78 percent people in 1998.

That same day, Campbell, a senior advisor of Blair, who was in charge of public relations, resigned. Campbell was not an ordinary person, he has close relations with Blair, he designed the way and the thing Blair was to talk about on many important occasions. He thus earned the name the "genuine vice-prime minister" from many people. It is by no means accidental that such an important figure resigned at such a crucial moment, it is generally held that Blair has begun to "give up a rook to save the king".

In the United States, not many people take the "intelligence gate" case as a topic for their conversation. The focus of Bush's work has been shifted to somewhere else. Whereas in Britain, a great noise was made about the "intelligence gate" case, the reasons for this are mainly the following.

First and also the most important point, on the Iraq issue most of the British people do not want their own country to follow so closely behind the United States.

For a long time, Britain and the United States have maintained special relations, but people like the British Prime Minister who tails so closely after the United States are still rarely seen. Britain fought shoulder to should with the United States in Iraq and works in collusion with America on the Korean issue. British expression of its attitude almost becomes the trial balloon released by the United States.

Ordinary English people are not happy about this. Many people call Blair the "US secretary of foreign affairs", some even dub him as the "pug-dog" of George W. Bush. Especially on the issue of Iraq, many British people say that's a matter of the United States, and it is not worthwhile for the British people to "pull chestnuts out of the fire" for the United States. Therefore, before the Iraq war, British anti-war voice was especially high, several high cabinet officials gave up office and left one after another, Blair managed to get the parliament's permission to start the war only after taking great pains. This differs vastly from the pre-war situation in which the majority of American people supported the government in starting the war. What gave more irritation to ordinary British people was that the Americans seemed to care not much about British support. American Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld even proudly declared that the US forces could smoothly solve the Iraq issue even if Britain did not dispatch its troops. Many British people lamented: the Great British Empire had fallen to such a low position.

Friction appeared between the UK-US forces only several days after the start of the Iraq war. At the end of March, three British soldiers were "wiped out" by US troops, though it was said to be accidentally inured, the incident greatly affected the spirits of the British troops. British soldiers said that US troops were arrogant and conceited without regard for the life and death of the friendly forces.

After the end of the war, the United States and Britain were again locked in endless quarrels over the question as to who would do more remarkably in Iraq's reconstruction. A British officer told the Guardian reporter that the British forces put Basrah in very good order, while US troops made a mess of Baghdad. In June another six British soldiers died in an attack, British forces blamed US troops of failing to properly manage Iraq with their blood-and-iron policy, on the contrary, they have caused the British forces to pay a price of blood. Until the occurrence of the "intelligence gate" case, regarding the saying about "Iraq imported uranium from Niger", the United States claimed that the information was obtained from Britain, this made the British feel that the United States did not mean well for it betrayed friends at the crucial moment.

The lots foreshadowing, plus the complicating situation in Iraq, have caused the emergence of the situation in which the British tightly seize the "intelligence gate" case. The British want very much thereby to compel the government to get away from the United States and to extricate itself from Iraq.

Secondly, the fact that the British people do not comply with nor bend to the "intelligence gate" case is associated with the government's effort to control the mass media. The US media has always been fairly prudent on the question concerning national security interest. Particularly after the "September 11" incident, the US government replaced the head of "VOA" station and adopted measures against disobedient media, which has played a deterrent role. Without media's encouragement, the "intelligence gate" case has gradually subsided in the United States, but the situation in Britain is different, there the media act in opposition to the government.

Thirdly, since the Americans have had the experience of the "9.11" incident, so they are more sensitive to national security, on this question, their support of the president is almost unconditional. Although the British have also had the experience of the warning of terrorism, they have, after all, had not gone through major terrorist attack.

To sum up, we may draw such a conclusion: the "intelligence gate" case would not come to an end in a little while. The resignation of Campbell perhaps can create an opportunity for Blair to recreate the government's image among the public, but what the public most hope to see is perhaps not that senior government officials come out to "bear the blame", but rather is that Blair could increase the distance between him and Bush and that he could express more or less British own views on international affairs. Of course, what is most desirable is that evidence of weapons of mass destruction could be found in Iraq, but as things stand at present whether this can be realized is still unresolved.

By People's Daily Online

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