The Hidden Correspondence

Last week, Rosa Prince (Telegraph of London) reported, "In written evidence submitted ahead of his second appearance before the inquiry, the former prime minister was asked about secret messages he sent to Mr Bush in the build-up to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. It emerged this week that the head of the civil service, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, refused requests for extracts from the notes to be released after consulting with the ex-premier." Richard Norton-Taylor (Guardian) added, "Britain's top civil servant, Sir Gus O'Donnell, is preventing the official inquiry into the Iraq invasion from publishing notes sent by Tony Blair to George W Bush -- evidence described by the inquiry as of 'central importance' in establishing the circumstances that led to war. O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary, consulted Blair before suppressing the documents, it emerged tonight." And to make clear who was pulling the strings, Gonzalo Vina (Bloomberg News) explained Steve Field, spokesperson for UK Prime Minister David Cameron, stating today that the decision to censor did not come from his boss, "It's very much the Cabinet secretary's decision." What is in the letters? How long until the world knows?





Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 18, 2041.
LONDON -- British Prime Minister Antonio Clegg today ordered the release of the long suppressed private correspondence between former Prime Minister Tony Blair and one-time White House occupant George W. Bush.
The release follows the death last fall of Mr. Blair who overdosed backstage o the Ugly Rumours reunion tour and comes just as Mr. Bush has again been placed on a sexual predator list.
The letters read like purple prose and reveal a dimension of the relationship between the two men hitherto unknown.
"You stiffen my bloody resolve," writes Mr. Blair in one letter, "while causing the front of pants to stiffen and I am not referring to starch."
In what may be a reply, Mr. Bush writes, in Crayola, "Two weeks from now, when this little war is over and done with, you and me going to go to the Crawford ranch and I'll be fixing us stuff to eat, wrestling up some grub, wrestling with you, you and me in our underwear, just the two of us, touching and feeling and eating and stuff."
Cherie Booth attempted to stop the release of the letters and claimed her late husband, from beyond the grave, also opposed the release and had the support of US pundit Peggy Noonan who has long spoken to those "on the other side."
Reached for comment . . .