Archive for February, 2010
Rebel MP meets Chilcot
by Chris Ames
On Tuesday Labour MP Graham Allen met Sir John Chilcot. Allen was one of the organisers of the rebellion of Labour MPs against the war and wanted to highlight “the three fundamental institutional flaws which were revealed by the lead-up to the Iraq War so that they are not repeated.”
Allen told me: “I [...]
The CIA and regime change
by Chris Lamb
This article from 2002 details the CIA’s involvement in regime change over 50 years, including the coup that brought Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party to power. It serves as an instructive lesson in recent history of the impure motives of US regime change and the irony underlying Saddam’s removal.
Secrecy prevails
by Chris Ames
It has been a long time since the Inquiry published any new declassified documents, something that they could do at any time – if the government would let them. The government seems strangely reluctant to admit that it is refusing permission for documents to be published.
In response to a badly-worded question from Independent [...]
Questions for Brown
by Chris Ames
The Daily Mail says rather optimistically that Gordon Brown “will be forced to answer claims he starved the Armed Forces of funds for essential equipment when he appears next Friday.” I haven’t yet seen anyone forced to answer anything at the Inquiry.
The Mail is though first up with a list of questions [...]
Brown at the Inquiry next week
Inquiry press release
Announcement of dates for appearances by Gordon Brown, David Miliband and Douglas Alexander at the Iraq Inquiry
Prime Minister Gordon Brown will appear before the Iraq Inquiry on Friday 5 March 2010 at the QEII conference centre in central London. He will start giving evidence at 10.00 and finish at 15.30. The Iraq Inquiry [...]
Dutch Inquiry on the legality of the war
by Chris Ames
Thanks to a contributor who wishes to remain anonymous, I have now posted here a translation of key parts of section 8 of the report of the Davids Commission, which looked at the Dutch government’s political support for the Iraq war and reported in January 2010.
Section 8 is titled “The international legal basis [...]
“A lasting stain on our national integrity”
by Chris Ames
In the Guardian/Comment is Free the lawyer Sir Geoffrey Bindman argues that the Inquiry has confirmed what we already know – that “our leaders (supported by the opposition) took us into a war that was illegal, immoral, unnecessary, and hugely destructive. And they did so under no compulsion and against our national interest.”
Unsurprisingly, [...]
Dates for PM’s appearance?
by Andrew Mason
Having just done a round-up of recent blogs concerning the Inquiry, I see that as of last Friday Iain Dale believed he has advance notice of the prospective dates for Gordon Brown’s evidence session:
I have learned that Gordon Brown will appear before the Chilcot Inquiry on either Thursday 4th or Friday 5th March.
You [...]
Licence to lie
In an interview with the Independent, Gordon Brown maintains the line that his support for the war was “about a country that refused to co-operate with the international community over many, many years, when it was in breach of its international obligations.”
He also says: “In Britain, it’s a cabinet decision. You accept the collective responsibility [...]
Dutch lessons: the French were right
by Chris Ames
I have now published here a translation of some of the key sections of the Dutch Davids Committee report into that country’s support for the war, which was limited to political support.
These sections describe the Dutch government’s contacts with others, notably the UK, US and France. As I wrote here, the report [...]