CAIRO,
September 12 (IslamOnline.net) - While the US administration was
vigorously trying to build its case to invade Iraq, US Secretary of
State Colin Powell has called Vice-President Dick Cheney, Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz “fucking
crazies” during a phone conversation with his British counterpart
Jack Straw, a leading British newspaper revealed Sunday, September 12.
In
his new book titled “The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the
Presidency”, BBC’s veteran journalist and broadcaster James
Naughtie said Powell made the unsavory remarks during the build-up to
the US-led war on Iraq, the Guardian reported.
The
book, which will hit the shelves as planned this week, said the top US
diplomat and former General had fallen out with neo-conservatives
within the Bush administration as he opposed any US unilateral action
without a United Nations backing.
The
relationship between Straw and Powell was so intimate during this
period in time with both speaking on an almost daily basis, according
to Naughtie.
Powell's
concerns were said to have chimed with Straw's and those of Blair
himself - that if America acted without UN sanction, allies would be
lost.
Powell
is thought to have been terrified that the strategy of the
“crazies” would alienate the Blair government, which believed it
needed UN backing to win over Parliament and the British public.
‘Voice
of Sanity’
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Rumsfeld
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John
Kampfner, political editor of the New Statesman and author of Blair's
Wars told the Guardian that the British government saw Powell
as “the most significant voice of sanity” in the US
administration.
“At
different times during this very difficult period, the Brits used
Powell to get across their point of view to the White House. But,
bizarrely, Powell sometimes also used Blair to pass messages to
Bush,” said Kampfner.
The
offices of Powell and Straw contacted the US publishers of Naughtie's
book, to say they would vigorously deny the claims if publication went
ahead.
“We
were surprised to receive calls from the offices of Jack Straw and
Colin Powell within 24 hours of each other,” a source at the
publisher told the mass-circulation daily.
Naughtie
stood by his claims and is said to be privately delighted that Powell
and Straw have reacted so violently.
Powell
acknowledged
in April that the pre-war information he gave
the United Nations to justify the invasion-turned
occupation of Iraq was not “solid” any longer, heaping the blame
on the intelligence community.
The
Guardian had said that the doubts had already emerged
at a private meeting between Powell and Straw shortly
before Powell’s presentation.
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Cheney
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The
pair voiced their fears during a private meeting at the Waldorf hotel
in New Yorkwith Straw expressing concern that the WMDs claims parroted
by the US administration could not be proved.
To
add salt to injury, a US weekly had revealed that Powell came under
persistent pressure from the Pentagon and White House to include
questionable intelligence in his presentation.
The
US News and World Report magazine said
the first draft of the speech was prepared for Powell by Cheney's
chief of staff, Lewis Libby, in late January, 2003.
According
to the report, the draft contained such questionable material that
Powell lost his temper, throwing several pages in the air and
declaring, “I'm
not reading this. This is bullshit”.
