LONDON, May 1 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has downplayed a leaked memo that indicates he was looking to justify the Iraq War eight months before the conflict began.
Blair said the opposition Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were focusing on Iraq because they have "nothing serious to say" about other issues.
Conservatives have accused the prime minister of deceiving the Cabinet and the Commons over the war, and Liberal Democrats have said Iraq will continue to haunt Blair if he wins the election.
On Sunday, The Times of London published an alleged memo dated July 23, 2002, by Matthew Rycroft, a former Downing Street foreign policy aide.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is quoted in the memo as saying U.S. President George Bush had "made up his mind to take military action even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin."
"Saddam was not threatening his neighbors, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran," the memo reportedly said. "We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would help with the legal justification for the use of force."
