- 4~.'-~ For Blair a war without end Ii:- Fj~~ hCisrtime 'last ye.ar, ~with -c, ai1(FscortJ. Which minist~rs and . I thatSactdam was a threat.-They I Andrew R~rw~sley... .. lished. - . i I I less than a month to go Labour MPs have duly dis- have been "dragged through Abandoning the prosecution Tbefore the invasion, gorged over her head. If she Trying to explain the contra- into a martyr. , . the mud over the past few of Ms, Gun has not got the British Prime Minister Tony regarded the bugging of Kofi dictions of her behaviour, she In answer to her claims,!the months" - to borrow another government out of this thicket. 13lalrwas devoting every wak- Annan as such an outrage. why says she has been travelling a prime minister fell back on the of his phrases - because of the now that defence lawyers for ing minute to persuading his did she not protest about it to "journey of conscience". The blocking formula of refusing to publication of the dossiers in some peace activists are seek- l:ountry to follow him into Iraq. Jack Str,ilw. the minister conscience of Clare Short must confirm or deny claims about the run-up to the conflict. It ing the disclosure of the attor- This time this year. with less responsible for GCHQ and be highly tricky terrain to navi- intelligence opei.ations becajlse was the unprecedented public ney-general's origin;!1advice. !ban 18 months to \!o befon~ the M16? Her erstwhile colleagues gate when it has taken her n.ine that would draw-him"int'lJ,"a use of"intellig~nce material, The Gun case and the Short likely date of the general elec- . in Cabinet report that Ms. Short months since her resignation to game" which would.c,omP1.o- followed by the growing evi- allegation will be footnotes in tion, the prime minister is des- was never timid about ventilat- make this allegation. mise their effectiveness. He dence that crucial elements.of it the accounts of future histori- perate to persuade the nation to ing her opinions. So why did Why delay until now to lob insisted that thesecnrirv ser- 'were wrong, that has opened up ans when they make the hig Il'u\'e Iraq ulone. Like Basil in ~he not express her horror to such a stink bomb at Tony vices had to "remain entirely the intelligence services to judgments about the invasion til,' Germans episode of Fawlty Blair himself? If she had so Blair? Some think she chose secret and not open to public debate and demands for more of Iraq. They will ask whether Towers, "don't mention the much respect for Annan. why last Thursday because it was discussion or debate". He could accountability, Which is pre- it was. on balance. in the war" has been the instruction did she not alert the secretary- the morning that the prime hear voices.Katharine Gun, the I , wcarom 1n'fX"'lors about mission to help Africa. She are talking openly about the which Britain would enter the \J fda.Cd telling that the UN simply I::ouldnot stomach the GCHQ linguist who revealed euro. ,urvetllance operations against ~.. work of our security services... I.,.1. lj1g in New York is a nest pros)?ect of her foe in No. 10 them and a renewed furor about SPXin . when this country is under ~he through The Observer newspa- Tony Blair has been anxious c Is g threat of terrorism?" Iraq. Ald.winJ1\l1gany plaudits for Blair per that Americanintelligence to move on from the war rI'u ? per allegation anyway The trouble for Blair is that was targeting swing voters on bel'ause he knows that en'r~ To the deep dismay of ) e. Even Robin Cook. her Dow 01ng Street. yet another If her intention was to ruin the person who has most the Security Council. Ms, controversy about Iraq brings mr ;lde-in-anti-arms. has. week has been dominated by an Ise... b f his day - indeed, wreck his exposed the operations of the Gun's lawyers were seeking with it another cluster of ques- , . tV a gInger eye row 0 week she succeeded, He tion marks about trust. The aend fug of questions about the ~ intelligence services to "this full disclosure of the attorney- legality of both the war and the ~fd jcism about the claims. called it a "very dangerous situ- type of public questioning and general's ruling on the legality operation to topple Saddam build up to the invasion. The III",n pn Brown, her patron ation" if people thought they scrutiny" stares him in' the face of the war. I put it mildly when was one of the swiftest mili~ary former II1ternational develop- ~.II e, she was In government, could sitnply "spill out secrets each time he looks in a mirror. I say it would be acutely campaigns in the history .01' ment secretary Invited upon : ~ ;\ it be known that he dis- or details of security opera- The prime minister "put them embarrassing to the govern- combat Not so the politics..For n. her. sending Ms. Short tions. Whether false or true" herselt a dumper truck of fury in the firing line", to borrow ment if the attorney's original a Tony Blair tormented. by the \~ to t,fie <.:oldas a spymaster and "get away with it", Yet get one of his phrases at his ncws advice proved to be more quali- unquiet ghosts of the contlie-t. 'Igh~ dispatch an agent who away with it Ms, Short will conference. when he used in(el- tied and less unequivocal than this threatens 10 he ~Iwar wi'lh s g(~nerogue, because No. 10 fears to turn her ligence material to sell the case the summary that was pub- out end.