The Iraq Inquiry - Chilcott's Circus Clowns Come to Town

[Magda Hassan]

And, can we please have a 'Professor Bowring' stand up in the USA!..but most are cowards there now...due to the unPatriot Act and our Gestapo.

There is at least one Peter:
http://www.deeppoliticsforum.com/forums/...php?t=2969

[David Guyatt]

More porkies on the horizon at Chilcot's Three Ring Circus:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8503398.stm

Straw to face Iraq inquiry again



Justice Secretary Jack Straw is due to give evidence before the inquiry into the Iraq war for a second time.

Questioning is likely to focus on legal issues in the run-up to the conflict when Mr Straw was Foreign Secretary.

Mr Straw was a key figure consulted by Lord Goldsmith before the then attorney general changed his advice about the invasion's legality.

Previously, Mr Straw told the inquiry supporting the invasion had been the "most difficult decision" of his life.

'Indelible impression'

By his own account, Mr Straw played a pivotal role in the war - if he had objected, the UK would not have invaded Iraq.

When Mr Straw's own legal adviser told him an invasion without a second UN resolution would amount to a crime of aggression, he rejected the advice.

Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has told the BBC's Hardtalk programme that he was "puzzled" by Mr Straw's earlier evidence to the inquiry.

Mr Straw had told the panel that a report drawn up by Mr Blix on the eve of the war had "made an indelible impression" on him and that it "convinced me that Iraq's non-compliance with Security Council requirements going back to 1991 was profound".

But Mr Blix said he found such a reaction "amazing" as "there was nothing sensationally new in that document".

Three days before the conflict, Lord Goldsmith had wanted to tell ministers that the legal issues "were finely balanced".

Mr Straw persuaded him not too, because of the problem of leaks from the cabinet.

Lord Goldsmith has admitted to the inquiry that he changed his legal view of the Iraq war but said it was "complete nonsense" to claim he did so because of political pressure.

Until a month before the 2003 invasion, the ex-attorney general had believed it was "safer" to get a fresh UN resolution.

But he gave the "green light" after deciding force was justified by UN accords on Iraq dating back to 1991.

The full interview on Hardtalk can be seen on the BBC News Channel at 2330 GMT and on BBC World at 0430, 0930, 1530 and 2130 GMT on 8 February 2010.

[David Guyatt]

Well, knock me down with a snail's nose hair...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8503454.stm

Straw 'wrong on Iraq', says Blix



Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw gave some incorrect answers to the UK's Iraq war inquiry, former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has said.

Mr Blix told the BBC he was "puzzled" by some of the evidence that Mr Straw gave to the panel.

He said that Mr Straw had been incorrect to suggest, in 2002, that UN weapons inspectors were not being allowed access to certain sites.

Mr Straw is due to be interviewed by the inquiry again later on Monday.

"I'm puzzled by some of the things Jack Straw said," Mr Blix told BBC World's Hardtalk programme.

'Not true'

He said that Mr Straw had stated that in 2002, according to one of their own reports, UN inspectors were not being allowed access to potential weapons sites in Iraq as required under a UN resolution.

"He did not focus at all on what I had said about the increased Iraqi co-operation," he said, explaining: "he focused upon - say - that the Iraqis are not allowing you to interview people and they are stopping you from getting to sites. That was not true," he said.

INQUIRY TIMELINE
January-February: Jack Straw, Tony Blair and other senior Labour figures to appear before the panel
February: Inquiry to adjourn ahead of the general election campaign
June-July: Inquiry to resume and hear from Gordon Brown among others
Report set to be published in late 2010 or early 2011
Mr Blix added that he was perplexed by Mr Straw's interpretation of the 2002 report, which he said was merely a collection of issues which needed resolving with the Iraqis.

"I think it was an amazing statement that the report, that we sent around at that time, the so-called 'cluster report', that this would have convinced him," he said.

"That report was an analysis of what Unscom [United Nations Special Commission] before us had found, and what we in our analysis had found.

"It put the cases of unresolved issues in clusters, and lined out what Iraqis could do to help us to solve them. There was nothing sensationally new in this document."

'Last resort'

During his January appearance before the inquiry - which is examining the background to UK involvement in the March 2003 war and its aftermath - Mr Straw said he had acted "on the basis of the best evidence available at the time" about the threat posed by Iraq.

Mr Straw said the UK insisted on a series of conditions for its backing for military action, including approval by the UN, that it must be a last resort and must be lawful.

He helped negotiate a UN resolution in November 2002 giving Saddam Hussein a "final opportunity" to meet its disarmament obligations but failed to get a second resolution which, critics say, was needed to explicitly authorise military action.

Nevertheless, Mr Straw said Saddam Hussein had clearly failed to comply with the initial resolution in terms of co-operating with inspectors and providing full disclosure of his weapons capability.

[Peter Lemkin]

...Is it possible some of these men of 'distinction and position' have lied to the Nation and the World?!?!!?! :hmpf:

[David Guyatt]

Never! They are all honourable men after all...

[Magda Hassan]

Tony Blair says the quest for a 'conspiracy' is behind Iraq Inquiry

Nico Hines

Tony Blair has dismissed the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war as part of Britain’s obsession with conspiracy and scandal.
Speaking for the first time since his controversial appearance as a witness, the former Prime Minister said people should accept that it is possible to have different opinions on the legitimacy of the invasion without any underlying deceit.
Mr Blair said in an interview on American television: “There’s always got to be a scandal. . . there’s got to be some conspiracy behind it.”
The interview, broadcast last night, came as Jack Straw, the former Foreign Secretary, prepared to give a second round of evidence before the inquiry this afternoon.
Related Links

• Jack Straw returns to Iraq Inquiry
  

• To be deceived, first you must deceive yourself
  

• Short: 'Blair lied in build-up to Iraq invasion'
  

Multimedia

• POLL: Campbell on Marr - crocodile tears?
  

Mr Straw is expected to come under fire from the panel because some of the evidence he gave during an earlier appearance has been apparently contradicted by subsequent witnesses.
The Justice Minister told the panel that he had repeatedly warned Mr Blair about the legality of the conflict and agonised over whether to support it.
Other witnesses have since suggested that he had disregarded unanimous legal opinion within the Foreign Office and told Cabinet and the House of Commons that there was a clear legal case for war.
The Liberal Democrats have accused Mr Straw of “hoodwinking” the British public and misleading Parliament.
Mr Blair called for an end to this kind of speculation over ulterior motives during an interview on Fox with Mike Huckabee, the former Governor of Arkansas who ran against John McCain to be the Republican nominee for President in 2008.
Mr Huckabee asked: “I don’t pretend for a moment to understand American politics very well and I certainly don’t understand British politics but why so many of these [Iraq] inquiries? There’s been four and they’ve all been relentless – they haven’t really mined any new ground.”
Mr Blair laughed and smiled. “Erm. . .” he began. “I think it’s partly because we have this curious habit, I don’t think it’s confined to Britain actually, where people find it hard to come to the point where they say we disagree – you’re a reasonable person, I’m a reasonable person but we disagree.
“There’s always got to be a scandal as to why you hold your view. There’s got to be some conspiracy behind it. Some great, you know, deceit that’s gone on, and people just find it hard to understand that it’s possible for people to have different points of view and hold them reasonably for genuine reasons.
“So I think there’s continual desire to sort of uncover some great conspiracy when actually there’s a decision at the heart of it – but there it is.”
Mr Blair could be asked to reappear before the panel in the coming months.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo...019088.ece

[Peter Presland]

Tony Blair says the quest for a 'conspiracy' is behind Iraq Inquiry

Wow!

Reduced to repeated resorts to the dreaded "C" word eh? He must be rattled.

'Conspiracy' and its derivatives is rapidly taking on the insulting, debate-clinching characteristics of those other hardy perennials of the feeble minded like 'NAZI', Anti-Semite', 'Holocaust Denier', 'Paedophile', 'Fascist', 'Communist' etc.

When anyone feels it necessary to have gratuitous resort to them, it is a sure sign they really are rattled and devoid of evidence or rational argument.

I look forward to the men in white coats being required to attend on Anthony Charles Lynton Blair because for sure, IF the man is NOT a pure calculating psychopath - and it's a BIG IF - then he really is mentally ill.

[Magda Hassan]

:hahaha::hahaha::hahaha:
Like that's ever going to happen! Nice try though. Hope springs eternal.

UK: Iraq inquiry to question US officials
Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:08:57 GMT

[URL="javascript:dec()"]
[/URL]

A spokesman for the ex-president has declined to comment on whether any request has been made to George W. Bush, or if he would co-operate.




In Britain, the head of the Iraq war inquiry is to seek meetings with members of the administration of former US President George W. Bush, over the 2003 war.

John Chilcot confirmed on Monday he hopes to obtain evidence from American officials, but did not say which specific individuals he wants to question.

"We cannot take formal evidence as such from foreign nationals, but we can of course have discussions with them," Chilcot stressed.

The long-awaited public hearings of Britain's involvement in the 2003 Iraq war began in November last year.

The inquiry has so far seen former Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, current MI6 intelligence agency Chief John Sawers, Head of Britain's military Jock Stirrup and a host of ministers and government officials offer testimony on the conflict's origins.

Chilcot said his panel will question British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Foreign Secretary David Miliband and a number of other British officials in a second round of hearings before summer.

He added that he also plans to gather evidence from US officials and military veterans.

A spokesman for Bush has declined to comment on whether any request has been made to the former president or if he would cooperate.

The inquiry has so far gathered much information about the lead-up to the war, with former Foreign Policy Adviser Sir David Manning testifying that Blair had assured Bush of backing "regime change" in Iraq, 11 months prior to the 2003 invasion, during a meeting at the ex-president's Texas ranch.

Recalling the meeting at the Crawford ranch in April 2002, Britain's former Ambassador to the United States' Christopher Meyer, also said that Bush and Blair had "signed in blood" an agreement to take military action in Iraq.

Meanwhile, military historian Lawrence Freedman indicated in questioning that Bush had advised Blair he planned to topple Saddam Hussein even if the despot cooperated with the United Nations weapons inspectors.

Details of private correspondence between the two former heads of Britain and the United States have been provided to the panel, but have not been released publicly.

Some lawmakers have demanded that the letters be made public, but the government has declined.

According to data compiled by the London-based Opinion Research Business and its research partner in Iraq, the Independent Institute for Administration and Civil Society Studies, the Iraq war has left more than one million Iraqis dead.

Moreover, a fifth of Iraqi households have lost at least one family member due to the conflict.

The United Nations estimates that the number of displaced persons in Iraq stands at more than four million.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118...=351020601

[Peter Presland]

:hahaha::hahaha::hahaha:
UK: Iraq inquiry to question US officials

Thanks Magda.

I didn't quite splutter coffee over my keyboard this time but it is giving me an extended chuckle.

[Peter Lemkin]

Poodles and their groomers do not question the Poodle-Master!