Declassified files show UK anger at Jaques Chirac over Iraq
UK government documents published Tuesday reveal the frustrations of then-prime minister Tony Blair and his government with French leader Jaques Chirac for blocking UN-backed military action in Iraq in 2003.
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Minutes of an emergency cabinet meeting on March 17, 2003 — a week after Chirac said he would veto any resolution approving military action — showed UK ministers agreed «the French attitude had undermined the mechanism of the UN to enforce the will of the international community.»
«We had tried our utmost» but the French «were not prepared to accept that if President Saddam Hussein of Iraq did not comply with UN obligations, military action should follow,» Blair told the meeting, according to files released by the National Archives.
Britain joined the US-led military action to oust Saddam in 2003, despite fierce opposition across the country, with Blair highlighting allegations that the Iraqi dictator had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction.
The WMD accusations fuelled by the administration of then president George W. Bush were later proven to be false.
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