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\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n How British journalists are seduced by the Ministry of Defence...<\/h2><\/a>\n READ MORE <\/i><\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nGuardians of the establishment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nTake the Guardian<\/em>. It swallowed the Blair government\u2019s false claim that Saddam Hussein\u2019s agents were scouring Africa for uranium to buy a nuclear bomb \u2013 and went much further. <\/p>\n\n\n\nUnder the headline<\/a>: \u2018Iraq dossier: African gangs offer route to Uranium \u2013 Nuclear suspicion falls on Congo and South Africa\u2019, the paper claimed to have seen secret documents proving contacts between African militia groups and Baghdad.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Observer<\/em> was even more agile and creative in the pro-war cause, seeking ever more sensational angles to demonstrate Saddam Hussein\u2019s actual or alleged malevolence, such as a 1,560 word interview<\/a> with a woman claiming to be a former lover of Saddam Hussein.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nShe claimed to have been with Osama Bin Laden as a guest at one of Saddam\u2019s palaces, and that Hussein had funded Osama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“The Sunday Telegraph pumped out oceans of state propaganda”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile the newspaper echoed false claims made by Tony Blair as a post-facto justification for war. \u201cThousands have died in this war\u201d, thundered<\/a> the paper\u2019s political columnist Andrew Rawnsley, \u201cmillions have died at the hands of Saddam.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Sunday Telegraph<\/em>, meanwhile, pumped out oceans of state propaganda, floating sensational but insubstantial reports which inflamed the mood of public alarm on the eve of war. <\/p>\n\n\n\nOn 19 January 2003 it claimed<\/a> that United Nations weapons inspectors \u201chave uncovered evidence that proves Saddam Hussein is trying to develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons.\u201d In fact when the weapons inspectors produced their verdict a few days later, they concluded nothing of the sort.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Sun<\/em> splashed<\/a> \u2018Brits 45 minutes from doom\u2019 \u2013 nonsense. It later told readers that chemical weapons were being \u201chanded to Iraqis on front line\u201d [sic] in an article headlined \u2018Fiend to unleash poisons\u2019, warning readers that \u201cSaddam\u2019s vile cousin\u201d Chemical Ali was in charge of the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n RELATED<\/h3>\n \n \n \n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/01-header-wine-cellar-sized.jpg\")
\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n Ten journalists in a wine cellar with the defence secretary<\/h2><\/a>\n READ MORE <\/i><\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nBlair the hero<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nMeanwhile, critics of the war were marginalised or smeared. Scott Ritter, the United Nations weapons inspector repeatedly questioned British and United States claims about Saddam\u2019s WMD. His well-informed interventions, amply justified as it turned out, were downplayed, while attack stories were boosted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Saddam was toppled, No.10 milked the apparent success of the war for political gain. The prime minister authorised carefully selected personal friends to give special interviews with the Financial Times<\/em>\u2019 political editor casting light on his state of mind as the decision was made to go to war. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe prime minister was duly portrayed as an heroic figure driven by religious conviction, all accompanied by a series of rare posed photographs portraying Tony Blair as a wizened international statesman who had been to hell and back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“The prime minister was duly portrayed as an heroic figure driven by religious conviction”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The Sun<\/em> did something similar. Meanwhile it emerged that the Times<\/em> editor, Sir Peter Stothard, had been embedded in Downing Street for the duration of the war writing a narrative of events, Thirty Days: An Inside Account of Tony Blair at War<\/em>, later published by Rupert Murdoch-owned Harper Collins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take the Guardian<\/em>. It swallowed the Blair government\u2019s false claim that Saddam Hussein\u2019s agents were scouring Africa for uranium to buy a nuclear bomb \u2013 and went much further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the headline<\/a>: \u2018Iraq dossier: African gangs offer route to Uranium \u2013 Nuclear suspicion falls on Congo and South Africa\u2019, the paper claimed to have seen secret documents proving contacts between African militia groups and Baghdad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Observer<\/em> was even more agile and creative in the pro-war cause, seeking ever more sensational angles to demonstrate Saddam Hussein\u2019s actual or alleged malevolence, such as a 1,560 word interview<\/a> with a woman claiming to be a former lover of Saddam Hussein.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n She claimed to have been with Osama Bin Laden as a guest at one of Saddam\u2019s palaces, and that Hussein had funded Osama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “The Sunday Telegraph pumped out oceans of state propaganda”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile the newspaper echoed false claims made by Tony Blair as a post-facto justification for war. \u201cThousands have died in this war\u201d, thundered<\/a> the paper\u2019s political columnist Andrew Rawnsley, \u201cmillions have died at the hands of Saddam.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Sunday Telegraph<\/em>, meanwhile, pumped out oceans of state propaganda, floating sensational but insubstantial reports which inflamed the mood of public alarm on the eve of war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On 19 January 2003 it claimed<\/a> that United Nations weapons inspectors \u201chave uncovered evidence that proves Saddam Hussein is trying to develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons.\u201d In fact when the weapons inspectors produced their verdict a few days later, they concluded nothing of the sort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Sun<\/em> splashed<\/a> \u2018Brits 45 minutes from doom\u2019 \u2013 nonsense. It later told readers that chemical weapons were being \u201chanded to Iraqis on front line\u201d [sic] in an article headlined \u2018Fiend to unleash poisons\u2019, warning readers that \u201cSaddam\u2019s vile cousin\u201d Chemical Ali was in charge of the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, critics of the war were marginalised or smeared. Scott Ritter, the United Nations weapons inspector repeatedly questioned British and United States claims about Saddam\u2019s WMD. His well-informed interventions, amply justified as it turned out, were downplayed, while attack stories were boosted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After Saddam was toppled, No.10 milked the apparent success of the war for political gain. The prime minister authorised carefully selected personal friends to give special interviews with the Financial Times<\/em>\u2019 political editor casting light on his state of mind as the decision was made to go to war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The prime minister was duly portrayed as an heroic figure driven by religious conviction, all accompanied by a series of rare posed photographs portraying Tony Blair as a wizened international statesman who had been to hell and back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The prime minister was duly portrayed as an heroic figure driven by religious conviction”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The Sun<\/em> did something similar. Meanwhile it emerged that the Times<\/em> editor, Sir Peter Stothard, had been embedded in Downing Street for the duration of the war writing a narrative of events, Thirty Days: An Inside Account of Tony Blair at War<\/em>, later published by Rupert Murdoch-owned Harper Collins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
RELATED<\/h3>\n
\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n Ten journalists in a wine cellar with the defence secretary<\/h2><\/a>\n READ MORE <\/i><\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Blair the hero<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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