A month before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the ex-attorney general Lord Goldsmith believed it was "safer" to get a fresh UN resolution.
Foreign Office lawyers Sir Michael Wood and Elizabeth Wilmshurst believed the invasion would be a "crime of aggression" without explicit UN approval.
But a month later Lord Goldsmith changed his mind but still told ministers that the UK could be taken to court in the event of military action.
Without his change of mind, Britain could not have gone to war.
Who or what changed his mind?
It is "complete and utter nonsense" to suggest that he could be persuaded by the establishment to tow the British government line.
Only after discussions with US diplomats did the "true meaning" of resolution 1441 became clear" to Lord Goldsmith.
That explains it.
Tony Blair was gob smacked by the status of the US President and decided to become his poodle.
Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, learnt the "true meaning" of law and UN Resolutions from the Americans.
A wiser man would have been brave enough to ask the French for their interpretation.
Foreign Office lawyers Sir Michael Wood and Elizabeth Wilmshurst believed the invasion would be a "crime of aggression" without explicit UN approval.
But a month later Lord Goldsmith changed his mind but still told ministers that the UK could be taken to court in the event of military action.
Without his change of mind, Britain could not have gone to war.
Who or what changed his mind?
It is "complete and utter nonsense" to suggest that he could be persuaded by the establishment to tow the British government line.
Only after discussions with US diplomats did the "true meaning" of resolution 1441 became clear" to Lord Goldsmith.
That explains it.
Tony Blair was gob smacked by the status of the US President and decided to become his poodle.
Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, learnt the "true meaning" of law and UN Resolutions from the Americans.
A wiser man would have been brave enough to ask the French for their interpretation.