Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Long suspected and finally confirmed, a senior Welsh MP, Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru’s parliamentary leader, said he has seen a confidential memo which proves George W. Bush and Tony Blair struck a deal to invade Iraq at their notorious Crawford Ranch meeting in 2002 – a year before war was declared.

Critics of the Iraq war have long suspected Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair came to an agreement at the former president’s faux ranch in Crawford, Texas in April 2002, a claim Mr. Blair denied in evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry last week.

MP Llwyd said he had offered to give evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry himself, in private if necessary.

“I think other things should have been pursued [at the inquiry], in particular the detailed conversation at the ranch in Crawford in April 2002. I do know that the deal was struck, I know for certain it was struck at that stage so just to pretend months down the road that no deal had been struck I think is unforgivable. I have offered to give evidence and Chilcot has said ‘I’ll come back to you’. At that stage I will have private discussions with him.”

The shocking admission confirms what many have said about the relationship between the former U.S. president and his equivalent, the former British Prime Minister. The admission also helps to explain why Blair, speaking at the Chilcot Inquiry, reiterated his belief that the Iraq war was wholly justified.