Six years to see a memo... and it’s all whitewashed
CONFIDENTIAL communications between Tony Blair and George Bush in the run-up to the Iraq invasion have been released after a six-year battle – but nearly all of the pages have been left blank.
American officials have finally released 13 pages of heavily censored documents in response to a Freedom of Information request made by The Mail on Sunday in August 2009. But the US State Department removed virtually all the information from the papers, rendering them meaningless and reinforcing fears of a cover-up.
Maurice Frankel, director of the London-based Campaign for Freedom of Information, said: ‘It’s been a long wait for next to nothing. The Americans don’t want to risk embarrassing their allies.’
When the State Department finally replied to our 2009 request on October 21, it identified 16 documents, but withheld five over ‘national security’ issues and released another two with what it called ‘excisions’. Incredibly, it said it needed even more time to consider the fate of the remaining documents.
Of the 13 pages released, four are little more than blank pages save for the word ‘Unclassified’.
The documents from 2003 point to a flurry of memos between the US Embassy in London and Washington prior to a meeting between Blair and Bush at Camp David. Although subject headings have been declassified, the substance has not been included – as the large white spaces on the released document, right, show.
American public bodies are supposed to process Freedom Of Information requests within 20 days. The State Department did not explain why this case took so long. It added that ‘redaction criteria include national security, personal privacy, and trade secrets’.