Archive for 'Coverage' Category
Dannatt criticises Chilcot
by Chris Ames
Perhaps the most important criticism from former army chief Sir Richard Dannatt in the Sunday Telegraph’s extensive coverage of his book comes in the interview he has given the paper:
Sir John Chilcot’s inquiry into the Iraq war had done little to convey how “the pips were squeaking” in the Armed Forces.
“In front of [...]
The Dowse memo is a disaster for the Inquiry
by Chris Ames
In the Observer today, Jamie Doward and I reveal that in March 2002 Tim Dowse, then head of the Foreign Office’s Non-Proliferation Department, wrote a memo to a special adviser to Jack Straw in which he said that the early draft dossier on Iraq’s alleged wmd would have to be “reviewed” so that [...]
Blair: I didn’t tell Chilcot the whole truth
by Chris Ames
The papers have of course been through Tony Blair’s memoirs. On Chilcot and Iraq, I find the Telegraph’s brief account most revealing:
Mr Blair says he was angry at being asked when giving evidence to the Iraq Inquiry led by Lord Chilcot earlier this year if he regretted anything. He writes that he took [...]
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’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 an Inquiry
Some brilliant satire from Newsbiscuit:
Former UN Weapons Inspector Dr Hans Blix says that following a visit to the UK he has found ‘no evidence’ that Britain is harbouring an inquiry into the Iraq War.
‘I have searched the length and breadth of the country,’ said Dr Blix ‘and I cannot find anything resembling an inquiry. I [...]
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 [...]
The day of the Generals
by Chris Ames
The inquiry has posted the transcripts of today’s two witnesses, General Sir Richard Dannatt and General Sir Mike Jackson. Both were at some point head of the army.
I think the beginning of Dannatt’s evidence, in which he talked about the “contingency” planning for the invasion in the spring of 2002, is particularly interesting. [...]
More on Blix, Straw and Miliband
by Chris Ames
I have just posted this piece on Comment is Free, focusing on what Hans Blix said yesterday about his March 2003 “cluster” document and pointing out that it contradicted both Jack Straw’s evidence to the Inquiry and David Miliband’s more recent justification for his support for the war.
Responses to Blix – take your pick
by Chris Ames
On Comment is Free this morning Sami Ramadani says that Hans Blix’s testimony to the inquiry yesterday was right but too late:
“The former chief UN weapons inspector revealed nothing we didn’t know. He told Chilcot there was no justification for war, because his inspectors found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction; and [...]