Straw backs down on denial of Iraq link (support for Blair dropped 14 %)

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1677202005

Straw backs down on denial of Iraq link

JACK Straw, the Foreign Secretary, yesterday stepped back from his earlier denials that the war on Iraq had nothing to do with the terror attacks in London.

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was believed to be incensed at Mr Straw's refusal to admit that the two events could be linked last week, as he believed this clashed with wider public opinion.

Political sensitivities over the bombings are at an all-time high and were underlined by a poll which showed that support for Mr Blair's handling of the crisis had dropped by 14 per cent in just two weeks.

Yesterday, Mr Straw said he did not rule out the possibility that Iraq may have increased the threat of terrorism for Britain. "It is impossible to say for certain," he told BBC radio. However, Mr Straw stressed that bombings and terrorist atrocities had been carried out long before the war on Iraq or Afghanistan.

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[RoyGBiv]

1. "Impossible to say for certain ..."

Do these idiots actually believe their own bullshit?

[LynnTheDem]

2. "impossible to say"? That's strange...

UK Ministers warned of Iraq link to UK terror
http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1532135,00.html

UK Government; Iraq war 'increased terror threat'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3451239.stm

Britons Say Iraq Support Left Country Vulnerable
72 per cent of respondents believe Britain’s role in Iraq made the country more vulnerable to attack by Islamic terrorists.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/8031

[Demeter]

3. Drops 14% in TWO WEEKS!

What would it take to get those ratings in this country, hmmm?

We are so third-rate around here; can't even get a decent scandal going.

[1932]

6. Article doesn't say what they dropped to/from.

Doesn't say if it was 98 to 84 or 60 to 46.

[dArKeR]

4. Bottom feeders passing off as leaders - Warning Graphic

[Greeby]

5. Say what?

down 14%? From what? -50%?

[habitual]

7. the 14% refers to

support for Mr Blair's handling of the crisis had dropped by 14%

[evermind]

8. Blair incensed???

"The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was believed to be incensed at Mr Straw's refusal to admit that the two events could be linked last week, as he believed this clashed with wider public opinion."

That is a bizarre paragraph, since Blair's speechifying since the attacks began has been aimed at discrediting a link - talk of a "perverted ideology that wants to destroy our way of life", etc. rather than "targetted attacks that seek to change our policies in the middle east".

Blair himself has made the argument that "the attacks started before our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq" (conflating the London attacks with 9/11 and previous Al Qaeda efforts). One would have expected him to be pleased with Straw for supporting his own line, here.

I wonder who it was doing that "believing" that Blair was incensed?

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Indeed - he said it in the House of Commons

Alex Salmond: On Saturday, Mr. Berlusconi said:

"Even intelligence from other countries shows the three Bs—Bush, Berlusconi and Blair—are considered the most exposed to this type of risk."

Has the Italian Prime Minister shared that intelligence information with our Prime Minister?

The Prime Minister: No. The one thing that is obvious from the long list of countries that have been victims of this type of terrorism that I read out is that it does not discriminate greatly between individual items of policy. I am afraid that I must tell the hon. Gentleman that it is a form of terrorism aimed at our way of life, not at any particular Government or policy.

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm050711/debtext/50711-09.htm

Incensed? He's passing the buck - with the polls showing everyone thinks Iraq is an important factor, and the Chatham House report, he knows he's exposed, and so he's heaping it on Straw instead. If Blair survives long enough to do a Cabinet reshuffle, I wouldn't be surprised to see Straw 'moved sideways' - probably to Leader of the Commons, aka 'The Ejector Seat'.