Archive for 'Opinion' Category
Chilcot, Hutton and the dossier
by Chris Ames
Following this morning’s publication of a previously unseen draft of the September 2002 Iraq dossier, I have posted this piece on Comment is Free, arguing that Sir John Chilcot is very complacent in saying that:
“We have a very detailed account in the Hutton inquiry report of the construction of the dossier, almost line [...]
How Blair led us into war in Iraq
by Brian Jones
This is the lecture that I gave at the Royal United Services Institute yesterday to launch my book Failing Intelligence: How Blair led us into war in Iraq.
In the year or so following my retirement in early 2003, I gave evidence on intelligence and WMD to two of the four inquiries on Iraq [...]
Inquiry stuck in a quagmire
by Chris Ames
I’ve just posted this piece on the Index on Censorship website:
“The Iraq inquiry’s public hearings ended last week, possibly for good. It is clear that Sir John Chilcot and co know the truth but, stuck in a quagmire of their own making, are unable to tell it. ”
Read the whole piece
“Chilcot should give legal view on war”
Today’s Guardian carries a letter from Louis Blom-Cooper QC arguing that the Inquiry needs to look very closely at both the process by which the attorney general came to state that the war would be legal and the validity of that decision. I’m reproducing it here in full:
Jonathan Steele tells us (Iraq’s missing witnesses, 2 [...]
Ken Coates on the clusters document
by Chris Ames
Readers may know that Digest contributor Ken Coates, who was Chairman of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, died suddenly at the end of June. Tony Simpson has send me a pdf version of Ken’s last editorial for the Spokesman journal, which, inter alia, mentions my earlier coverage of David Miliband and the UNMOVIC [...]
Chilcot’s missing witnesses
On Comment is Free, Jonathan Steele says that “by taking evidence only from insiders, the Chilcot report will produce not the needed insight but fudge.”
Seeking certainty
by Chris Ames
I wrote here how two articles last weekend gave very different views on the Inquiry. The Independent’s leader today has elements of both articles. And again, I disagree.
It argues that “the steady drip-drip of its evidence has served largely to confirm what many people suspected, rather than revealing anything startlingly new” and [...]
Missing the point
by Chris Ames
Carne Ross has given me some comments in response to his piece in the Observer about how the government tried to obstruct his evidence to the Inquiry:
I note that the FCO has said that it won’t comment on what I said, and that it has full confidence in the inquiry; and [...]
Two views – take your pick
by Chris Ames
It’s worth looking at two very different views of the usefulness of the Inquiry, both published this weekend. I don’t really agree with either of them.
On Comment is Free yesterday, Matthew Partridge wrote a piece calling for an exit strategy for the Inquiry, mainly based on his reading of the constitutional implications. [...]
Brilliant. Short and sweet.
by Andrew Mason
The Guardian:
Unthinkable? Bush testifies to Chilcot
As partners in the coalition of the willing, are we not equally accountable to one another?
Editorial
The Guardian, Saturday 24 July 2010
Jack Straw was yesterday considering whether to accept an invitation from the US Senate foreign relations committee to explain his role in the release of the [...]