Missing WMD ‘hurting war on terror’

LONDON – Failure to find banned weapons in Iraq is undermining the United States and Britain as they conduct their “war on terror”, a senior committee of UK parliamentarians (MPs) said yesterday.

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee’s hard-hitting report came as Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected, under pressure, to launch some form of inquiry into the pre-war intelligence he received about Iraq’s alleged biological and chemical weapons. The cross-party committee predicted that a British military and civilian presence in Iraq could be required for several years and said the war in Iraq may have made terror attacks on British nationals and interests more, not less, likely.”The continued failure of the coalition to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has damaged the credibility of the U.S. and the United Kingdom in their conduct of the war against terrorism,” the MP­s said in their report.”We conclude that the war in Iraq has possibly made terrorist attacks against British nationals and British interests more likely in the short-term,” they said.The failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — the reason Blair gave parliament and the public for military action — has dealt a major blow to his credibility, sending his public trust ratings tumbling.Labour MP Donald Anderson, who heads the committee, said the government’s continued assertion that weapons programmes would be found had become increasingly untenable and called for an inquiry, not least to re-establish trust in Britain’s intelligence services.The committee said U.S. and British troops in Iraq now faced a “dangerous alliance of foreign fighters with terrorist allegiances and elements of the former Iraqi regime”.It also said al Qaeda militants remained a “substantial threat” to British citizens and facilities overseas.- Nampa-ReutersThe cross-party committee predicted that a British military and civilian presence in Iraq could be required for several years and said the war in Iraq may have made terror attacks on British nationals and interests more, not less, likely. “The continued failure of the coalition to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has damaged the credibility of the U.S. and the United Kingdom in their conduct of the war against terrorism,” the MP­s said in their report. “We conclude that the war in Iraq has possibly made terrorist attacks against British nationals and British interests more likely in the short-term,” they said. The failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — the reason Blair gave parliament and the public for military action — has dealt a major blow to his credibility, sending his public trust ratings tumbling. Labour MP Donald Anderson, who heads the committee, said the government’s continued assertion that weapons programmes would be found had become increasingly untenable and called for an inquiry, not least to re-establish trust in Britain’s intelligence services. The committee said U.S. and British troops in Iraq now faced a “dangerous alliance of foreign fighters with terrorist allegiances and elements of the former Iraqi regime”. It also said al Qaeda militants remained a “substantial threat” to British citizens and facilities overseas. – Nampa-Reuters