Danes struggle to place blame for Iraq invasion

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press

Tuesday December 02, 2008 22:58

by Coilín

Foreign minister points finger at prime minister

The Danish evening paper, Ekstra Bladet, reports that foreign minister Per Stig Moeller has provided the parliament with written documentation to show that the prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, was aware of a UN report indicating that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, eleven days before the government submitted a parliamentary bill to invade Iraq. Fogh has previously denied all knowledge of the report.
This development may signal a rift in the Liberal-Conservative coalition and ultimately lead to a parliamentary majority to launch an investigation of Denmark's participation in the invasion.

The following is a translation of Ekstra Bladet's editorial on the topic:

Fogh gets the knife in his back

It is possible that the full investigation of the mendacious basis for (Denmark’s past participation in) the war (in Iraq) will not come until a change in government. After all, it needs a majority.

But it looks as if foreign minister Per Stig Moeller is already well on his way to ensuring that a forthcoming investigation will place the responsibility for the war lies exactly where he thinks they belong: in the prime minister’s lap.

The foreign minister has just submitted a decisive document to the parliament. This paper unequivocally places the responsibility for the government’s Iraq lies on prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

With the document follows a comes a great explanation problem for the prime minister. Per Stig Møller and Anders Fogh Rasmussen were – on the same day – asked to submit their copies of the UN report that documented that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.

Per Stig was first off the starting blocks. His reply – the day’s revealing document – shows that the prime ministers’ office and the foreign minister’s office received the decisive UN report about Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction in an e-mail at 00.28 on 8 March, 2003. A full eleven days before the government presented its legislative proposal to participate in the war to disarm Iraq.

So Fogh has a problem. Per Stig has now documented that Fogh received the report. In an interview with Ekstra Bladet a few weeks ago, Fogh denied having received the report with the words: “I really don’t know anything about that!” And two years ago, Fogh submitted written “documentation” to the parliament to the effect that the report was never received in the prime minister’s office. It had disappeared.

Now Per Stig has documented in writing to the parliament that prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen lied. What does Fogh say? And what does the parliament say?

Please see Danish original, dated 30 November, here:
http://ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/lederen/article1091725.ece