Iraq Leak
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The Iraq leak (also Iraq-gate, or the
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
scandal) is a series of events that began on 6 March 2003 from a statement given by
Anneli Jäätteenmäki Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (born 11 February 1955) is a Finnish politician who was the first female and 39th List of Prime Ministers of Finland, prime minister of Finland from 17 April 2003 to 24 June 2003. From 2004 until 2019, she served ...
, leader of the Finnish Centre Party, in a televised election debate prior to the 2003 parliamentary election. Jäätteenmäki accused
Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (; born 23 April 1941) is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was prime minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005. He also served as speaker of ...
, the then
Prime Minister of Finland The prime minister of Finland (; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and his or her cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol after the president ...
, of attaching Finland to
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
's '
coalition of the willing A ''coalition of the willing'' is a temporary international partnership created for the purpose of achieving a particular objective, usually of military or political nature. Origin The term was coined in the early 1970s by MIT professor Linco ...
' that was in preparation for the 2003 war in Iraq. Lipponen had visited
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
on 9 December 2002. According to Jäätteenmäki, Finland had taken part in a meeting where 'those countries that had promised cooperation and aid' had been invited. It was later discovered that Jäätteenmäki had acquired the information from secret foreign ministry documents, which she had received from Martti Manninen, an advisor to the
President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland (; ) is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024 Finnish presidential election, 2024. The presi ...
and a member of Jäätteenmäki's party. Prime Minister Lipponen's actions were suggested to be influenced by the fact that Finland was about to sell
AMOS Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (film), a 1985 American made-for-television drama film * Amos (guitar), a 1958 Gibson Fl ...
mortars to the U.S. military as part of its
Land Warrior Land Warrior was a United States Army program, launched in 1989. It officially got its name in 1994, cancelled in 2007 U.S. Army Budget Request Documents FY2008 (page 4) but restarted in 2008. It has used a combination of commercial, off-the-sh ...
program. The Left Alliance member of parliament
Jaakko Laakso Jaakko Tapani Laakso (born 20 May 1948 in Turku) is a Finnish leftwing politician and member of Parliament between 1991 and 2011, representing Left Alliance. He is a former member of the Communist Party of Finland. Laakso graduated from Univer ...
, together with other representatives, had posted a public question on Lipponen's statements in Washington already on 19 December 2002. There was no public inquiry on the matter, even though the documents cast doubt on the legality of mortar deals during the
2001 war in Afghanistan 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
. The
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
member Ulla Anttila and others questioned an authorisation to export arms that was granted to Patria- Hägglunds shortly before the war started. The Centre Party won the
parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
and became the largest party in the
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. Jäätteenmäki was appointed Prime Minister of Finland by President
Tarja Halonen Tarja Kaarina Halonen (, born 24 December 1943) is a Finns, Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first and to date only woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer wit ...
on 17 April 2003. However, the lack of confidence in Jäätteenmäki caused by her use of secret documents in the campaign and her flat-out denial before the Parliament of having solicited them, despite incriminating evidence, forced her to resign as Prime Minister on 24 June. Jäätteenmäki claimed to have received the documents unexpectedly and without solicitation, which Manninen denied. A new cabinet was formed by
Matti Vanhanen Matti Taneli Vanhanen (; born 4 November 1955) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2003 to 2010. He was also Chairman of the Centre Party (Finland), Centre Party in 2006. In his earlier career, he was a journali ...
, who also became the leader of the Centre Party. Manninen was also sacked from his job as advisor to the president. On 19 December 2003, criminal charges were pressed against Martti Manninen for leaking secret documents and against Anneli Jäätteenmäki for incitement and aid to the same. Manninen was found guilty, and had to pay 80
day fine A day-fine, unit fine or structured fine is a pecuniary sanction which is based on the severity of the offence as well as the income (or wealth) of the offender. The fine amount is calculated by determining the number of days based on the sever ...
s, but Jäätteenmäki was not found guilty, as she did not specifically request the documents. David Schlaefer, spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, denied in 2003 after Jäätteenmäki's resignation that there was ever any understanding on cooperation or assistance between Finland and the U.S. during Lipponen's meetings in Washington, stating at a conference at
University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...
that "it is simply not true, it did not happen."


References


HS: Jäätteenmäki: Suomi liitetty USA:n rintamaan





Tasavallan presidentin kanslia: Tasavallan presidentti instituutiona

Valtioneuvoston luettelo Suomen hallituksista
{{Iraq War Political scandals in Finland 2003 in Finland 2003 in politics 2003 scandals Impacts of the Iraq War News leaks