Blame it on the French

Blame it on the French

Lord Goldsmith was making a further attempt to shift responsibility for the Iraq war

Philippe Marlière

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 January 2010 22.30 GMT

In the end, it was the Frogs’ fault. It was down to Jacques Chirac’s slippery diplomacy that the US-British-led coalition could not secure a second resolution ­authorising the use of force against Saddam Hussein. This is no tabloid rant but, in substance, Lord Goldsmith’s astonishing account when he appeared before the Chilcot inquiry this week.

It is worth noting that Resolution 1441 was adopted by all five permanent members of the UN in November 2002. It stated that Iraq was in material breach of the ceasefire terms of resolution 687, passed in 1991. These breaches essentially related to the construction or import of weapons of mass destruction. France said repeatedly that any "material breach" found by the inspectors should not automatically lead to war; instead the UN should pass another resolution deciding on the course of action.

Goldsmith told the inquiry that George Bush would never have accepted a new resolution that would enable the UN to veto military intervention. The attorney general said he was told by Jack Straw and American counterparts that the French conceded the point. This implicitly meant that, should Iraq be in further material breach of 1441, any state could unilaterally take military action. This was Tony Blair’s and Straw’s bold interpretation, and Lord Goldsmith, in extremis, accepted it.

At this point, Goldsmith drew the public’s attention to one awkward episode in the run-up to the war: Britain’s voluntary distortion of the French position. In short, Blair never obtained a second resolution because those shifty French would not concede it. Evidence of that was a much-quoted interview with President Chirac on French TV. Blair told the House of Commons: "France said it would veto a second resolution whatever the circumstances." In reality, Chirac said: "My position is that, whatever the circumstances, France will vote no [to a US-British resolution authorising the use of force], because we presently consider that war is not the proper means to reach our objective, that is disarming Iraq." In other words, Chirac thought that the UN should let Hans Blix and the weapons inspectors get on with their job. Had they found any weapons, the French argued, the UN would have met to decide on the appropriate course of action. War would then have been an option.

Tony Blair declared that the French "no" was "unreasonable" and therefore should be ignored. Blair, Straw and Geoff Hoon made great use of this distorted account of the French position in cabinet meetings and before the House in order to convince recalcitrant Labour MPs. For some, it proved to be the argument that made them switch their vote in support of the war. In truth, France’s position fully abided by the letter of Resolution 1441.

The American media and the British tabloid press picked on this incident to launch one of the worst bouts of Francophobia in living memory. The French were dubbed "cheese-eating surrender monkeys", while the Sun named Chirac "Le Worm". Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper later renewed its attack, branding President Chirac "Saddam Hussein’s whore" in a special Paris edition. The front page read: "One is a corrupt bully who is risking the lives of our troops. He is sneering at Britain, destroying democracy and endangering world peace. The other is Saddam Hussein." France’s foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, complained about the strong language used in the British parliament to describe France’s stance. The British government kept quiet throughout.

Lord Goldsmith’s testimony emphasised not only how quick the British government was to join in the French-bashing before the war, but how keen it appears to revive it now.