Pack of lies: BBC's hitjob on PM Modi relies on Jack Straw's words, but he's known to have been a liar

London: Former British foreign secretary Jack Straw, who featured in BBC’s documentary  on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has been dubbed as “propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative”, has lied on several occasions about his role in influencing the dossier about presence WMDs in Iraq which led to the latter’s invasion. So far as the BBC hitjob is concerned, Straw had featured in the documentary supporting a said British high commission’s investigation of the 2002 Gujarat riots. Straw has recently claimed that the UK government had back then instituted an inquiry and a team visited Gujarat to investigate the riots. Straw had allegedly fabricated dossier of WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and was also accused by his countrymen for peddling lies. Not just this, the foreign secretary in Tony Blair government, attacked journalists for exposing lies. Jack Straw was implicated in the Chilcot Report that investigated the WMD dossier and the British military action in Iraq. Jack Straw a ‘liar’ In 2015, Straw was branded a “liar” in the House of Commons as he justified Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War in 2003. Straw, who was foreign secretary from 2001 to 2006, was speaking in a debate on the floor of House of Commons on the delays to publication of the Iraq War report by the panel chaired by Sir John Chilcot. He drew a slew of abuse from Respect MP George Galloway when he was discussing talks with the UN Security Council. For the unversed, ahead of the Iraqi invasion, Straw was facing a “moral as well as political dilemma”. He also supported military action which he said was “the most difficult decision” he ever took, adding that it was an “error”. Back in 2003, Straw admitted that dossier on Iraq’s WMD caused an “embarrassment” for the UK government. He, however, in 2016, did not talk much about the claims he made in the dossier to justify the invasion which he once asserted “haunted” him ever since. The Chilcot report brought to fore an entirely different picture that highlighted Straw’s key role in making Iraq a target.

Notably, the UK government-led by Tony Blair had commissioned an intelligence paper on the WMD threat from “rough states”. Before the dossier was presented, the threat from Iraq was seen as less serious than other key nations of concern that included Iran, Libya and North Korea. Straw had also decided that a paper on Iraq should be issued without them having mention of other countries of concern. In less than a week from then, Straw changed his version and this time he advised that the evidence would not convince public opinion that there was an imminent threat from Iraq. Publication of the dossier was delayed and process was initiated for the one that would convince public opinion that “military action was necessary”. Hutton inquiry Notably, it was not the first time that Straw’s culpability came to fore. In 2004, during the Hutton inquiry, an email written by Straw’s then private secretary surfaced which elucidated the role of the then foreign secretary in “hardening up” the dossier with a “killer paragraph”. Back then, a memorandum copied to Alastair Campbell and John Scarlett, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, which produced the dossier, read: “The Foreign Secretary has now had a chance to go through the draft dossier. He has endorsed the comments I made earlier on…” The points which were endorsed by Straw stated, “The first bullet of para 6 the importance of weapons of mass destruction should be strengthened to explain the centrality of WMD to Saddam Hussein’s role – the projection of power etc…. Crucially the section should explain the role of the WMD in the political mythology which has sustained the regime.” According to reports, the Blair-led government had a policy of attacking journalists who questioned its Iraqi policy, especially in regards to weapons of mass destruction. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.