"Bush's War On Terror Is Wrong"

Lord Goldsmith's Eextraordinary Attack: 'Bush's War On Terror Is Wrong'

By JONATHAN OLIVER
Last updated at 23:18pm on 8th December 2007
DailyMail

Attack: Lord Goldsmith launched an outspoken tirade on President BushThe Government's former top legal adviser last night launched an outspoken attack on President Bush's concept of a "war on terror", branding it "dangerous", "counterproductive" and "wrong".

Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General who ruled the Iraq war was lawful, attacked the US's indefinite detention of suspected "combatants" at Guantanamo Bay.

His remarks, which follow the release of four inmates who had been British residents, will put further pressure on Britain's strained relations with the Bush White House.

Lord Goldsmith insisted Downing Street had been working hard behind the scenes for years to secure the repatriation of Guantanamo inmates.

He said: "We did take a principled stand. It took longer to get them back than I would have liked."

The former law officer, who stepped down when Gordon Brown became PM in June, said the three former prisoners who are now returning to the UK (the fourth has gone to his native Saudi Arabia) should be charged only if there is evidence against them under British law.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "They should be treated in the same way as anyone else who is here and not agree to some condition just because the Americans have asked for it."

Lord Goldsmith also warned the idea that the West is engaged in a broad "war on terror" was undermining fundamental civil liberties.

"We don't agree with you at all that there is a 'war on terror' which means that you can treat any terrorist as a prisoner of war until someone declares that the 'war on terror' is over.

"The principle here is fundamental civil liberties. You can't have people detained for years on end with no end in sight.

"It is hugely counterproductive. Guantanamo has been a recruiting sergeant for terrorism. It should have been closed a long time ago.

"I think the expression 'war on terror' is a dangerous one. If it means we have a dedication to fighting these issues, to using our determination and resources to deal with terrorism, it is absolutely fine.

"But as a legal diagnosis it is wrong. It leads people to say that if you have war, you can hold people who you pick up on the battlefield until the end of the hostilities.

"What I object to is that a war on a tactic somehow equates to traditional war against a country."

Lord Goldsmith also attacked Gordon Brown's plans to allow police to detain terrorist suspects for 42 days without charge - instead of the current 28 days.

Asked if his opposition to the plan was an issue of principle, he said: "If you are a person who is kept in for an additional 14 days, it most certainly is."

Photographic evidence that the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay was tortured may be destroyed before he can use it to defend himself, it was claimed last night.

Binyam Mohammed al Habashi remains at the prison camp in Cuba despite a decision to free four other UK residents. The US authorities are determined the asylum-seeker should face charges relating to an alleged plot to set off a dirty bomb in America.

But lawyers say the only evidence against Habashi, an Ethiopian, was obtained while he was being held in Morocco and that the CIA has pictures of his wounds.

One said: "We fear these photographs will be destroyed to protect the identities of CIA officers."