The Chilcot Report in full
Posted on
July 06, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
The short version is “Everything Tony Blair said was a lie”. The full report can be read in 58 sections at the inquiry’s website here, but in the quite likely event that it gets swamped today we’ve uploaded the entire thing as a single convenient RAR file here.
[EDIT: individual sections now compiled into the print version’s 12 volumes.]
Alternatively, if you want to read the volumes directly on a browser or mobile device rather than downloading, they can be viewed at these links:
Volume 1 (plus introduction and executive summary)
Volume 12 (including annexes)
Thanks Stu.
Sure I’ll get around to reading it, but, you pretty much summed it up already!
I’ll bet Teflon Tony walks away smirking.
Thank you Rev!
Why wasn’t it available in full in the first place?
This is the final collapse of the legitimacy of the British ruling class, Neither they – none of them – nor the UK state is any longer fit for purpose.
Just love the covering letter from Chilcott addressed to “Dear Prime Minister” whoever that might be!
Blair to Bush: “I will be with you whatever”
Unable to load on any of the browsers on my tab. Every single one displays an unable to access on this server notification. Any advice please anyone?
The chickens are coming home to roost.
@Dave Hansell
Right click and try “save link as..”
Thanks Stu! I assume they made it separate PDFs just to help put folk off getting to the end of it. Perhaps start from half way through to get the best (worst) bits.
Wonder if DC planned the EU ref to time with this. After all we know they probably had the whole senario planned. Hence no PM to actually take ownership of this either.
If the stock of the political class was low before today, I suspect its about discover new and uncharted depths of contempt.
From Chilcot’s release statement alone, its not looking good for Blair.
Right across SLab, tory, SLib unionists in Scotland, complete silence.
ScotConservatives ?@ScotTories 44m
Ruth has met with the Europe Minister @DLidington to discuss the upcoming EU negotiations: link to bit.ly #EURef
“Why wasn’t it available in full in the first place?”
Beats me. It’s a 35MB file, not especially huge.
This is the ‘Establishment’ we are talking about…
‘Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Whitewash’
The BBC will be running around like headless chickens trying to get ‘Some other news where you are’ out to the populace, to get our minds off, just how badly we have been getting shafted once again!
“Unable to load on any of the browsers on my tab. Every single one displays an unable to access on this server notification.”
That’s because, as I said, it’s a RAR file containing the 58 PDFs. You can’t open it in a browser, you have to download it.
Game, Set and Match!! Thanks Stu.
Auld Rock
How about those in the Scottish parliament who voted for war and at the time called those who voted against disgusting. Surely the presiding officer should consider his position in light of today’s Chilcot report.
Ach probably not as they have no honour.
This pretty much damns Blair to hell
link to twitter.com
Thank god it’s raining…is all I can say!
Except thanks Stu. 🙂
I cannae be arsed reading it – I’ll wait till the film comes oot. 🙂
Formal SNP initial Chilcot response.
link to snp.org
Complete silence from all UK official unionists in Scotland, unionist activists kick off their shameless spin.
Duncan Hothersall ?@dhothersall 34m34 minutes ago
No question that #Chilcot is damning about the processes leading to a war many of us marched against. Politicians must learn the lessons.
“The charges in the Indictment that the defendants planned and waged aggressive wars are charges of the utmost gravity. War is essentially an evil thing. Its consequences are not confined to the belligerent states alone, but affect the whole world.
To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole”.
Judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Trial of German Major War Criminals: The Nazi Regime in Germany
30 September 1946
Flipping Nora!
Didn’t bother reading Chilcot because as the document itself says, the Blair governments behaviour and dishonesty has left the population of the UK with a complete mistrust of the establishment…
…But, It might have taken six years to complete, however this is no whitewash!
What with this honesty, and Alistair Charmichael saying he thinks politicians should stop lying through their teeth, my head is spinning…(again)
Why would a Tory Prime Minister defend a discredited Labour Prime Minister?
They’re all the same, that’s why.
Jesus Wept
BBC news tonight: “BONG The SNP. Aren’t they awful. BONG Nothing is happening anywhere. BONG Here are some kittens that were rescued from a drainpipe.”
Thanking you ta!
BBC Scotland Scottish reaction to Chilcot findings
LIVE
Rolling coverage of reaction in Scotland to the publication of the Chilcot report on 6 July 2016.
link to bbc.co.uk
Still absolutely nothing from any red or blue tory.
CMD statement in WM:
He also confirms that there was no plan ‘B’lair post invasion.
Resources for troops’s personal equipment; vehicles and helicopters was inadequate .
It’s a litany of mistakes and deceit.
I hope the families can see a way to take legal action against Tony and Mr Salmond also agrees.
Meanwhile in Scotland:
Mr Lidington (who was given a spot on radio shortbread this morning) meets the SG:
link to archive.is
Jimbo wrote:
“I cannae be arsed reading it – I’ll wait till the film comes oot.”
LLF, thanks, i needed that!
😉
Watching the Tory party at play in the English Parliament words fail me ,the sneering we are in charge and always will be attitude should be presented daily to those people who want to continue with this rancid farce ,how much more will it take for these brain dead idiots to waken up ,all the people who voted NO need to presented with the consequences of their actions, it’s not our fault they are stupid it is theirs , as for the usual pish of requiring the yes side to publish every dot and comma and provide cast iron guarantees of their future f/kn grow up look around you This place is the product of your Union it’s doing well isn’t it .
Just been listening to the Chilcot report and much of the comment. Sent the following text to BBC Radio 5.
“Bill,
Surely what i’m hearing can’t be true.
Surely the British army is the best!
Surely British politicians are beyond reproach!
Surely Britain is the best place on Earth!
Surely everyone else is inferior!-
What is sure is that it is long past time Britain grew up!
Nobody likes bullies.
Thoroughly ashamed”
“Why wasn’t it available in full in the first place?”
Cos it looks bigger in 12 volumes and multi-volumes makes it easier to justify the inquiry costs.
Oh and while the journos are digesting, now would be a good time to get out bad news.
I watched lord West getting interviewed yesterday.
Basically he was told by some one higher up in autumn 2002 to prepare to attack Iraq in March 2003.
That Royal Navy warships were sent out to the gulf under the guise of training exercises.
And he hadn’t been called to give evidence to the chilcot inquiry, and he didn’t know why.
Our parliament is a disgrace, lessons will not be learned as long as we have Tories in government. That is like, forever be they blue red or yellow.
The real terrorists are our elected officials, only they don’t bomb us, they only take a pound of flesh at a time. Keeping us alive so as to sate their appetite in the long term.
Pariahs nibbling at us, stripping us nibble by nibble of everything including your soul. Worst of all is that we allow them.
An RAR file is the same as a Zip file. You need to download it, then extract it, and then open individual files.
Still nothing from any unionist on BBC Scotland online coverage. Looks like its going to stay that way. A UKOK foreign policy error it is then
Alastair Campbell ?@campbellclaret 3m3 minutes ago
blog: mistakes yes, but no lies, deceit, secret deals, ‘sexing up’. And ultimately a matter of leadership/judgement http://www.alastaircampbell.org
RT article on vindication of Jeremy Corbyn with some archive of his speech in Washington against the war.
link to rt.com
Tory Blair isnt worried he has his millions from Iraqi oil shares safely stored in various offshore accounts for a rainy day, whilst many military widows and kids are still asking why partner/daddy went to war
Important part will be, will prosecutions follow. Will the politicians be brought to trial? If that happens then it is something worthwhile for Iraq, and the soldiers who died.
If that doesn’t happen then the Chilcot report is a very long Guardian or Sunday Times article.
Thepnr
Cameron has Libya, his own smaller version of Iraq. Creating a failed state.
Why are Labour MP’s talking of Iraq rather than their support of bomb strikes in Syria.
Tory Benns son? Hypocritical bastard.
Guilty though Blair is,the Westminster Parliament in general are also culpable for voting for war on an obviously deeply flawed premise.
Not that there will be action taken against any of them.
Another shameful episode in the demise of the British Empire.
It is truly revolting watching Cameron at PMQs, and the Chilcot statement. No humility or gravitas. Cracking jokes.
Lest we forget as Cameron enjoys this lovely distraction to the national shitstorm he created.
He planned the EU referendum date close to our Parliament elections, and refused calls to change the date.
Sturgeon called for a 4 nation’s lock on any referendum result, and he refused.
He planned the referendum for 2 days before the Somme celebration, no doubt thinking it would be a nice reminder of British wars being great stuff.
He arranged for Chilcot this week. At the end of Ramadan.
I think more than David Icke, might think there are lizard people among us.
As usual, SNP showing great dignity. Supporting Stop the War, Angus Macneil was reading the names of the dead. Angus Robertson pulling up Cameron for not mentioning the ‘whatever’ communication between Bush and Blair.
Important part will be, will prosecutions follow. Will the politicians be brought to trial?
Probably no chance. If a prosecution started, where would it end? Blair and Brown were the top of it but almost every Lab MP, all tory MP’s voted for the invasion. The Hague war crimes courts would be log jammed for decades.
If Blair thought he was heading for any court, he’d have skipped town ages ago.
I like many decnet people throughout the UK would really like to see prosecutions take place but it shouldn’t just be Blair that is in the dock.
Those members of his cabinet such as Gordon Brown, Jack Straw, Alistair Darling, David Miliband etc should be served with an indictment.
For they are as culpable for what happened, because without their support Blair wouldn’t have been able to attack and invade Iraq.
John Beattie’s show ……. Colonel Richard Kemp has said repeatedly that WE (the Uk) should be invading any country seen as a threat…... Thinks Bliar made the correct decision to invade Iraq…..
Lord West with Jon Snow …….. Singing like a bird….. Making sure he doesn’t get fingered…..
What did John McTurpid predict would be opened by the publication of the Chilcot Report:
a. Pandora’s Box;
b. A can of worms;
c. The mother of all lawsuits;
d. none of the above because it will “draw a line under it, everybody wants closure”.
you know the hashtag 🙂
Blair will insist his war crimes trial is presided over byPistorius’ judge.
Lord West’s statement yesterday triggered in my mind memories of 60years ago.
In November 1956 we had the disaster of Suez when we were led at the time to believe that The UK and France intervened as peacekeepers to put a halt to an Israeli invasion of Egypt.
Of couse it subsequently came out that the whole thing was contrived in advance as a combined op between The UK, France and Israel to get rid of Nasser.
At the time I was still at school and was a member of the Naval Section of the CCF.
Every summer we had Field Days which usually involved visiting ships at Rosyth and sometime going to sea in them.
One of the Field Days in the Summer Term of 1956 was to board the Light Fleet Carrier HMS Glory which was in the process of being brought out of reserve and go to sea for Speed Trials.
The ship only had a skeleton crew and we cadets wee given some of the muckier jobs – the ship was in a filthy condition. The day involved sailing as far as The Bell Rock and returning to Rosyth.
All in all it was an enjoyable and informative day.
However, it only occurred to me years later why the ship was being taken out of reserve. It became obvious that it was being prepared months in advance to take part in the pre-planned and co-ordinated Suez War.
Just like Lord West’s advance orders to prepare for The Iraqi War.
Perfidious Albion never changes.
Lord Foulkes asked on radio Scotland, are you ashamed of voting for the Iraq war, “no”! Then straight into Salmond has an agenda and is trying to make political gain and his call for impeachment is a gimmic blah blah. “We didn’t interfere in Syria and look at the mess there, so it’s difficult to say whether staying out is any better than invading” etc etc. blah blah. “The important thing is that we learn from it” blah blah. “All these unfounded charges against Tony doing something illegal are unfounded” blah effing blah! Absolute buffoon of the highest order. Lord of the Lies!
Obliterate Obliterate, to the uninitiated in the paint trades, thats WHITEWASH only much much thicker. Teflon Tony lives to carry on making more money & being protected by the Establishment, let the fucker pay for his own security & his Gov pension should be withheld.
Here Mr IT manny , ah hivnae posted fur over a hour,so stop telling me am postin to fast,its everybody else but me dey ye want me tae name names lol.
Well, teflon Tony has had this report for some time, enough time for an army of lawyers and spin doctors to plan his escape.
If he was not confident of winning against charges that may come against him, he would not be in the UK at this time, but in hiding in someones private villa.
However,initial reaction by real people has been totally negative, while he may escape court, he will be forever damned by the majority.
That may lead to case upon case against him, the relatives of service men and women who died, just one example.
There are lots of evidence that illegal practices were used, that will not go away any time soon.
Take stock of what Blair was implicated in, the Prime Minister at the time. He lied and disregarded evidence that could be contrary to his purposes.
The ineptitude of the UK Government has shown just how bad they are at planning and establishing their legal argument.
What we can definitely conclude, is that we cannot trust what comes out of Westminster.They could not run the economy, they can’t run their war games, they have no plans on Brexit and now preside over an utter mess.
They have never been exposed so much before, and it is totally highlighting just how inept at running things.They will pay a high price at the end of the day.
Why should we want to be run by such imbeciles.
In an ideal world politicians of all sides and experts would pore over the report, with a view to working out how to do things better in future.
In the world we live in, politicians will either be attacking Blair and other politicians, or defending them. I doubt if many, if any, will be looking to see how decision-making and action taking, can be improved in future.
The ‘price’ of Oil is not just measured in USD.
RIP to All the victims of these illegitimate acts.
RIP to other victims,on this,the anniversary of Piper Alpha and all the other workers who have lost their lives.
#notforgotten.
Dissapointed in Corbyn…….. Not calling for Bliar’s head……. Is this part of a deal he’s made with his scum bag MP’s to get thim off his back
One Scots yoonster speaks finally on Pacific Quay’s bizarre nothing of rolling coverage. Hard to watch this character though.
Live reporting
By Jo Perry
Get involved
Former Labour MP George Foulkes: voting for Iraq invasion ‘seemed the right thing to do’
Posted at
13:37
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock, who as George Foulkes MP voted in favour of the Iraq invasion, has been defending Tony Blair and his government.
Lest we forget: Dr David Kelly.
And the bit part players involved: Andrew Gilligan, the BBC, Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell, Andrew MacKinlay, John Scarlett to name but a few.
PS If people talk about arresting Blair, is the same not true of Gordon Brown? He funded the war as Chancellor.
The Chilcot Report findings have now been released. Fingers crossed that Blair, Straw, Campbell and so on will face justice in England, Scotland or at the Hague.
Meanwhile the greatest perpetrator of all, Bush, is getting off Scot free. Obama to be followed by Trump or Clinton later this year. Two narcissistic warmongers: One totally insane. The US controlling NATO, FGS.
We have to get out of this Westminster Union that backs the US at every turn, regardless. Syria being their latest ‘conquest’ whilst Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya having been decimated by us still find their ‘situation unresolved’. Our troops, MANY of them Scots, are finding themselves ‘spread too thinly on the ground’ leaving them vulnerable once again.
Oh and, eh, if Theresa May decides to ban Scots from holding British Citizenship she’ll no doubt exempt our Scottish troops who are said to be (always have been) the backbone of the UK Military and often account for 25% of UK Forces. What would they, will they, do without us?
………………………………………..
Nana says …. ”Blair and every one who voted for war, hang your shameful heads. Hope George Bush chokes on his birthday cake today.”
He just might Nana because he’s known to choke on his food. He choked on a pretzel and said ”I hit the deck. Woke up and there was Barney and Spot……” This happened in 2002 a year before he ordered the invasion of Iraq. Too bad he didn’t remain on the deck if you get my meaning.
link to youtube.com
What are US citizens going to do about him? Nothing by the looks of it: All laughing, clapping and cheering. A bunch of totally callous, shortsighted ignoramuses.
The Chilcot Report highlights that they (Bush and the US Intelligence Services) didn’t even know the difference between Sunni and Shia muslims. Bl**dy awful.
link to youtube.com
‘Last letter to (the cowards) George W. Bush and Dick Cheney from Tomas Young.’ Tomas Young (1979 – 2014) who did his utmost to have Bush and Cheney indicted.
link to youtube.com
And what are they going to do about those who have committed war crimes in the MANY countries that they invade (along with us)?
link to youtube.com
Heard a BBC news bulletin on the workmens’ radio. Seems like the Beeb have the painters and decorators in on overtime. Had Toady Blairs’ ‘with insight’ quote without any mention of Chilcotts’ response!
OT. It was ever thus!
BBC appoints new director to oversee UK regions from London link to on.ft.com
‘…the appointment of a new director of nations and regions who will be based in London, and the closure of the senior executive position running BBC North in Salford…’
Labour in Westminster trying to deflect by saying they needed the murderous Saddaam removed. That was not why the war was fought. It was fought specifically because he presented a danger to our countries,not his own people.
It is a significant legal difference
I wonder if Blair saw that one coming.
link to archive.is
“Beats me. It’s a 35MB file, not especially huge”
don’t know if the new ones do but an older iPad won’t cope with a pdf over 30MB.
Adobe’s previous recommendation was 10MB.
Dr NO strikes back. A very difficult and stupid yoon like this probably should emulate unionists in Scotland and hide.
Scott Arthur ?@DrScottThinks 1h1 hour ago
Grievance monkey Angus Robertson manages to link #Chilcot to Libya (which he voted to bomb) and, erm, #Brexit. The man has no class. #PMQs
Cameron trying the old …’learn from our mistakes and move on’ … approach.
Nae chance. The Families will have their day in court. I assume this means a civil action.
Personally, I think the ‘crimes’ are so enormous that it should be a criminal case.
“Blair said he would hold a press conference later in the day, saying he needed to answer Chilcot’s “serious criticisms”.”
One would have thought he’d be totally Maxed out by now.
That ChickenCoup worked really well for Labour, didn’t it?
If they hadn’t tried to get rid of Corbyn by resigning en masse from the front bench, the Shadow Leader of the House wouldn’t be Paul Flynn, who has just said that there should be serious consideration of prosecution for Blair.
Another buffoon in UKOK action. As long as this crew never get near power in Holyrood, Scotland’s got a chance.
Duncan Hothersall ?@dhothersall 1h1 hour ago
Duncan Hothersall Retweeted Stewart McDonald MP
On the contrary, I think #Chilcot shows UK capable of uncovering truth and learning lessons. That’s good governance.Duncan Hothersall added,
Stewart McDonald MP @StewartMcDonald
Any shred of authority that the UK had left as a beacon of good governance left in tatters this week following Chilcot & Brexit response.
12 retweets 25 likes
Reply Retweet 12
Like 25
More
Thank for the link, Rev
From the first line of the Executive Summary, “the United Kingdom took part in an opposed invasion and full scale occupation of a sovereign state – Iraq”. What is more, it did this without authorisation of the UN.
What gets me is that the UK is still taking this sort of action. It has troops in the sovereign state of Syria without mandate from the UN or invitation from the Syrian government.
@ Clydebuilt at 1.35
I have a vague recollection that Richard Kemp (then a mere Major) was the army officer who said that his troops stationed in the Gulf somewhere waiting for orders to invade were like “substitutes on the football bench” (those may not be his exact words) who would be really disappointed if they didn’t get the chance to “play”.
What I’m not sure is which Gulf War he said that during (if it was indeed he who said it). I remember being disgusted by the flippancy.
Had this report been available four or five years ago perhaps Tony Blair and his colleagues might have been held to account as the evidence and views of experts on the need for intervention and the potential outcome of intervention in Iraq was available for any intelligent person to access prior to the war beginning. I shall probably browse through the RAR files but doubt if they will add anything to my knowledge or change my viewpoint on the war, nor the unseemly delay in producing Chilcot’s verdict.
The poor quality of the case for war was summed up in the abysmal presentation by Colin Powell to the UN. The long delay in publication has simply allowed the perpetrators of this colossal self-serving cock-up to ‘move on’ and acquire considerable wealth whilst maintaining their membership of the political and social elite.
They, of course, have little regard for the hundreds of thousands of ordinary individuals who suffered and died so they and their friends could posture on the world stage.
The lessons that should be learned: never trust an extremely plausible politician who cannot present solid evidence, who also avoids transparency of decision making, undermines Cabinet responsibility, and relies on a small group of like minded advisors. More so if they believe they have God as an advisor.
Peter Oborne’s book Not the Chilcot Report gives a neat summary of the key issues in only 170 odd pages.
Mark Durkin MP:
A grey wash!
“Will the PM agree that ‘the hand of history’ should be feeling someones collar”
On the one UKOK hand, Dunc says #Chilcot shows UK capable of uncovering truth and learning lesson.
Learning Lessons for Labour are, invade Syria, as a vindication for destroying Iraq. Fair enough chancers like Dunc and Dr NO are only trying to protect SLab and unionism in Scotland but its a horrific display of catastrophic SLabour idiocy And they have Trident.
Your views: Criticism of Lord Foulkes of Cumnock’s interview on BBC Radio Scotland
Posted at
13:49
Follow
paul holleran @paulholleran1
Atrocious response by Lord Foulkes on John Beattie show as he suggests UK failure to invade Syria shows why Iraq intervention was right
1:24 PM – 6 Jul 2016 · Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
See Craig Murray’s blog for his views on the members of Chilcot’s team. Take their perspectives into account when considering Chilcot’s judgements; they are hardly likely to be judged the most objective of individuals on the matter of the Iraq War.
A good day to review Robin Cook’s resignation speech from back in 2003. Vindicated, I think:
youtu.be/I0f8NBlmwwE
Oooft how do you need so many words to say he is a lying bastard warmongerer murderer that lied to the UK parliament and to the population and killed loads of Iraqi civilians.
Can we now send him to Iraq to face Iraqi justice after all it was them he murdered the most and its the right thing to do,it wont make up for what we did to them but it would be a start.
If they need any rope i have some in my shed i will send it no problem and pay the postage and thats coming from someone who is very much against capital punishment but in this case i think i can be persuaded to look the other way.
Crash Broon Flipper Darling your time is coming tick tock
Thanks Stu for providing a RAR file in volumes. Much easier to access.
Some good points made on Radio so far. Skies are darkening over Tony Blair, but who will have the courage to set the process of impeachment in motion. Hope it is not left to the bereaved families, who certainly sound extremely angry and upset.
galamcennalath @ 13:50,
Actually, I agree with Cameron. We should “learn from our mistakes and move on”.
Insofar as the misbegotten union with delusional “punch above our weight” rUK is concerned, that is!
Tony on radio 5 apologising almost, much wringing of hands and truly sorry….but… but!
Close but no cigar Teflon. 🙁
If you have long since forgotten the true horror of the events surrounding the Iraq war then reading the article entitled On the Night Shift: From Lynndie England to Copper Green will remind and sicken you. Read it today on Bella Caledonia,
“the intelligence assessment turned out to be wrong, the aftermath turned out to be more hostile.” Tony snivels.
The intelligence wasn’t wrong Tony.
You need to read Chilcot again.
He says you and your mates deliberately exaggerated the reports.
One wonders where in that rattling, emaciated frame you inhabit, that you manage to host such a massive source of bullshit.
The British Establishment clearly thought it was in its interests to start a war in Iraq and get rid of Saddam thus getting their hands on the natural resources there, presumably because the Scottish kind is totally worthless.
Of course, with no long term plan for what to do after they’d toppled Saddam, sectarian tensions in the region were unleashed, which fuelled the rise of ISIS, destabilising Syria, causing a mass exodus of refugees, putting the EU under pressure, raisng fears of ‘migrants’ flooding into the UK and consequently contributing to the #Brexit mass vote to leave the EU, the effects of which will be somewhat disagreeable to the British Establishment.
What goes around comes around.
BBC Scotland blog
09/11 terrorist attack changed the world, says Mr Blair
By Jo Perry
Blair makes plea: ‘Put yourself in my shoes’
Posted at
14:37
Tony Blair urges the audience before him: “Put yourself in my shoes as PM, back then in 2001 you see the intelligence on WMD, you see the changed context of mass casualties of terrorism, you consider the possibility of 9/11 here and your prime responsibility as PM is to protect your country.”
US satire sums up Blair’s 9/11 shite.
link to youtube.com
…and as with Iraq, for Brexit they still don’t have a plan.
We should learn from our mistakes so as we do not make them again.
So get a move on says May our next unelected Prime Minister, lets agree in parliament to spend that £220 billion on Trident, come on you Red Tories vote with the party that knows best.
Who cares about austerity or cake let them eat Trident missiles.
It all came down to elitist agendas at the end of the day, we can include Blair in that. They used our armed forces in the most cynical way to gain what they could salvage.
UK, America, have a lot to answer for, and there is no ending in sight to the ongoing carnage result of their greed. people, it seems people are expendable to the upper classes, both sides of the Atlantic.
“Of course, with no long term plan for what to do after they’d toppled Saddam,…”
They made a fatal mistake Major Bloodnok.
They left the policy drafting for the installed Iraqi Government of Ayad Allawi in the hands of, “I am a hawk. I supported the Iraq War. Indeed, I still do. I worked in Baghdad, drafting the manifesto for prime minister Ayad Allawi”, one John McTurpid.
Ayad Allawi was the interim Prime Minister of Iraq from 2004 to 2005. He served as Vice President of Iraq from 2014 to 2015.
10/04/2016
PANAMA CITY, Panama – “Former Iraqi vice president Iyad Allawi’s name has surfaced in the Panama Papers scandal, alleging that he was the owner of multiple luxury properties in London.”
“There were widespread allegations of corruption in Iraq during the time Allawi was interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 – shortly after the US-led invasion of Iraq. He was also accused of collaboration with the United States, backing hardline security policies that earned him the nickname of “Saddam without a moustache” among ordinary Iraqis.”
Oh yes, when you charge McTurpid with policy making, apparently you need only supply a razor.
Blue tory UKOK dude’s war on Scotland running Scotland goes on.
One things clear, official UKOK cross party lines in their scotland region is, say nothing Chilcot, leave to the big boys in London. Which sums them all up. Surprised Ruth MacThatcher might have tweeted something though, seeing how she such a great amazing brilliant leader, possible UKOK tory prime minster n shit.
(((Kevin Hague))) ?@kevverage 2h2 hours ago Gifford, Scotland
anecdotal only – but I’ve now heard two investors say they’re backing off specific Scottish investments because of indyref2 risk
Let me guess that the BBC and ITN are already pumping out a lets a draw a line under it line and time to move on blah dee blah BS.
I recall Blair on the steps of No 10 in 1997 flushed with his election victory and promising a new dawn for politics. After the sleaze and corruption of the previous Tory regime many of us were only too anxious to believe that he would bring honesty and openness to politics. He betrayed us all.
Blair fell into the trap of believing his own hype and ultimately thought he could walk on water. Too late he will now realise that he had holes in his feet. For the sake of decency he must be prosecuted for the evil wrought by his lies and deceit, with a few other of his cronies thrown in for good measure.
Don’t want to be a pain but you may want to recompile Volume 4.
Nothing Chilcot from my UKOK Slovene girlfriend, although she is going nuts on Graun btl
link to twitter.com
A masterful performance from Blair at his press conference – teary, voice cracking, lots of ‘sorrys’ even the odd ‘I take full responsibility’.
But nowhere does he actually say he got it wrong and that he made the wrong decision.
I am loathe to use terms which are too often bandied about without context or meaning but Blair is truly a narcissistic psychopath and it is terrifying to see him, today of all days, demonstrating that psychopathy in all its glory.
Just about to switch on PMQ – but will leave you with a different view to the “45 minutes from launching WMD”.
I spent almost a year working near to Basra. One thing stuck in my mind from an Iraqi Engineer we had (formerly an Electronics specialist in Saddam’s army). I stated to him during one of our long and tedious tasks that Blair should have been tried for lying to Parliament to get into Iraq war.
“Why? ” he retorted. When a man like Saddam you how long it would take to have the Scuds ready, you better well tell him what he wants to hear or you could wind up dead yourself. In his mind the 45 minutes was what Saddam was being told by his generals.
Despite all the hardship and destruction of the once beautiful city of Basra, in his mind it had been the right ting to do. He recalled also the difference in attitudes between the British forces and the Americans who took over once they had left. The British were recognised as being fair, and trying their best to help better the lives of the local civilians. If a the British suffered due to an insurgent attack, they muckled down and got on with the job with no real reprisals.
The Americans on the other hand sought out revenge were particularly brutal in their reprisals. Yes we were wrong to go in to Iraq, but most of the blame for the mess of the country lies squarely at the feet of the USA.
And nothing Chilcot from the queen of the yoons either. Most odd.
link to twitter.com
What should never be forgotten, is that this was a LABOUR government which took us into the Iraq war. It is all very good to point the finger at Blair, but he DID NOT ACT ALONE.
It does seems as though we are to believe Blair acted all by himself, and the rest of Labour were innocent, but that is not how it was. There were a few honourable exceptions who resigned, Cook, Short and so on, but the rest were JUST as COMPLICIT.
So too was the media, which today is acting as the biggest hypocrites in the history of mankind. I recall the first night of bombing, when the likes of SKY were telling the enthralled audience at home, how this was ‘shock and awe’, acting with clinical precision to avoid collateral damage etc..rolling updates as they happen… Honestly, all they didn’t do at that time, was suggest you order some popcorn.
People seem today to have selective memories of all the events as they happened. Blair was wrong, but if he is guilty of any crime, then so too are many, many, many others across Westminster, and by continually pointing the finger only at him, we effectively let those others wriggle off the hook.
Al dossary
The fact was there were no weapons of Mass Destruction, it wasn’t about getting Scuds ready to fire at Cyprus ,they spinned it as if it would take 45 mins to launch weapons of mass destruction at the UK. The truth is that Bush and Blair illegally went to War on false pretences in order to divvie up the oil wealth of that country. How much did Cheney and Halliburton make out of Iraq?
@revstu and mibby Vol 8
Thatcher had her Falklands triumph. Her great imperial legacy. Tony Blair, who at that stage felt invincible, wanted something similar. That’s the main reason that hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives and the middle east is still burning.
@Al Dossary
You have a point and that was well worth saying, these poor people are mere pawns in a political game. I worked in Turkmenistan in the early 90’s everyone I knew despised their leader but would not speak openly through fear.
Bombing them though as the West chose to do is different from helping them. I don’t know what the answer is but war is never the answer. We fucked up.
Yes we can blame Blair and the entire House of Commons. We voted for them and elected them to make our decisions for us. Therefore we too are culpable.
In an Independent Scotland I hope and expect that the government that lead us, those we elect, will vote with their electorate in mind. There is another way.
If you are using Windows. Download winrar. It’s free for around a month. That will open rar files. Any thing else. Fuck knows.
Blair claimed at the time it was not about regime change. Now he claims it was. He was lying then and he is lying now.
On the day the Government’s September 2002 dossier was
launched in the House of Commons, Tony Blair was asked if regime
change was his objective and he replied that it was not:
“Regime change in Iraq would be a wonderful thing. That is not the purpose of our action; our purpose is to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction …”
link to spokesmanbooks.com
Another of Dr Scott Thinks’s grievance monkeys.
BBC Politics ? @BBCPolitics
“Please stop saying I was lying, or I had some dishonest or underhand motives” Tony Blair tells @bbclaurak #Chilcot
3:28 PM – 6 Jul 2016
Seeking the opinions of better minds than mine.
Is Blair really saying the chaos in Iraqi is the fault of other countries interference.
And that those other Nation’s were Iran and Syria????
@revstu and mibby Vol 11
OT
Mundell of the Scottish Office: “I’m quite clear that a majority of people across the UK voted for the UK to leave the EU and that decision must be implemented. “
So in his own words Mundell of the Scotland Office represents the interests of the UK.
If anyone needs proof that the Scotland Office is not there to represent Scotland’s best interests, what more do they need?
link to alexsalmond.scot
Scotland as a country voted to stay in but Scotland’s wishes don’t matter to that fuckwit Mundell or Ruthie, this should be hammered into them at every turn.
If they honestly think they will get away with pulling Scotland out of the EU then they are fucking delude and really need help pronto.
It is really weird out there in UKOK scotland region land. The further right you go, UKOK wise, the quieter it gets with Chilcot
link to twitter.com
Not a neo fascist peep.
heedtracker
Tories and Labour MSPs should be reminded of this:
link to news.bbc.co.uk
Single file version reordered, fully bookmarked and only 31.4Mb:
link to evernote.com
For those who want to count the total number of times the word “sexed” appears in the 6251 pages.
Hint it’s less than 10
@ Lenny Hartley
Maybe there were no WMD – but the point I am trying to make is that as far as Saddam was concerned there were. And if that is waht Saddam was told, perhaps the original source was from someone close.
There is supposedly a video out there that is taken down as quickly as it is posted of Blair being interviewed (by Marr?), where he is asked about the 100,000 civilian deaths in Iraq since the war. He leans forward, smug grin on his face and states “Andrew, I think you will find out that it was only 50,000”.
Nice to see PM Blair confirming he was working in the best interests of the USA rather than the UK. That makes me feel important and influential.
When a unionist politician says ” lessons must be learned” dont you just wish you could punch their f*****g face in.
link to lbc.co.uk
The most galling thing for me about this whole Iraq affair is that Tony B will cost us (taxpayers) yet more millions over and above Chilcot and the lost lives if he is brought to trial. Does not matter if it’s here or in the Hague – someone pays…and it will last for years.
@ cirsium says at 1:59 pm …. ”From the first line of the Executive Summary, “the United Kingdom took part in an opposed invasion and full scale occupation of a sovereign state – Iraq”. What is more, it did this without authorisation of the UN. What gets me is that the UK is still taking this sort of action. It has troops in the sovereign state of Syria without mandate from the UN or invitation from the Syrian government.”
An expert (didn’t catch her name) stated on television earlier that the UN knew without a shadow of doubt that there were no WMD’s before the invasion.”
…………………………………….
@ rongorongo says at 2:11 pm … ”A good day to review Robin Cook’s resignation speech from back in 2003. Vindicated, I think (reposting for you rongorongo):
link to youtube.com
………………………………………
He told them:
link to youtube.com
We told them:
link to youtube.com
Some of those who didn’t make it back to say anything at all:
link to youtube.com
Those who have no voice:
link to youtube.com
And for what?
link to youtube.com
No Iraqis left! Next one (madman) up:
link to youtube.com
Blair is a good example of how England gets to sit at the top table and screw everything up tragically for years.
Don’t bother about Richard Kemp’s views.
If it was up to him, we would be invading and bombing all over the place.
link to richard-kemp.com
Oh, and the UK has an extradition treaty with Iraq.
link to gov.uk
Just saying, in case anybody in Iraq is reading this!
Hard to watch jack straw on sky without wanting to smash his face in.
BBC getting off scott free so far. They were right up for it. Just watch john pilgers film ‘the war you dont see’
England gets to sit at the top table through the ignorance and fear of proudscotbuts no voters. Because england on their own wouldnt be invited to the ‘top’ table
“The Americans on the other hand sought out revenge were particularly brutal in their reprisals. Yes we were wrong to go in to Iraq, but most of the blame for the mess of the country lies squarely at the feet of the USA.”
So that’s alright then. Who ever you are, fantasy chats with grateful Iraq’s means nothing. The fact that there was no post invasion planning says a lot more than whatever youre coming out with, let alone Westminster’s catastrophic war mongering.
British neo fascists love a good war. The British Army top brass loves a good war, keeps them on their toes, wraps giant union jacks around the plebs, not the disloyal ones maybe, world attention for Brits that like punching things above their weight, no consequences, worth every penny. Are the psychotic? Maybe. Are they just shitty little jumped up twerps, like Labour led by Blair and Brownite goons. More than probably.
Think about the psychosis of MP’s that voted Aye, lets launch hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cruise missiles into Iraqi city centres, regardless of civilian casualties.
If Blair and his associates do go to prison forbtevrest of their lives there is no British Justice. The UK is not a Democracy.
It is a rogue State using taxpayers money for donations to Unionist Parties to survive by ilegal secret donations. They act as mercenaries for any price for other failed States. Totally corrupt. They are sanctioning and starving vulnerabe people to death at home and abroad.
Cameron and his cronies are still engaging in illegal wars. No lessons have been learnt, Westminster lying war criminals are carry on. They intend spending £205Billion on Trident and warmongering, 30mins from Glasgow with absolutely no mandate or permission. Without majority wishes and against the publc interest.
Westminster Unionist politicians and associates are still supporting illegitmate Apartheid States and absolute despot Monarchies with taxpayers money in order to line their pockets. They are illegally sanctioning vulnerable people and starving them to death.
Westminster Unionists are still warmongering. They have learnt nothing. They not do care. The West is still illegally taking Iraq’s Oil. The reason for the War, in order to line the pockets of corrupt politicians and their associates They are still taking Iraq’s Oil and resources. Iraq has no funds to repair the damage that has been done to their country. The West is still illegally stealing their oil resources.
The Chilcot Verdict on the Anniversay of the Piper Alpha Disaster. The worst company in economic history BP broke UK Gov Health and Safety Rules and caused the terible death and injury of innocent people. BP cutting corners to cause disaster.
The UK gov still taking an illegal cavalier attitude to Oil and Gas workers. Helicopters falling from the sky with no Inquiry covering up Health and Safety Laws being broken. Ruining the Oil industry with high taxes when the price had fallen and losing thousands of jobs and revenues in Scotland.
Westminster Gov is a total and utter disgrace of a failed State, ruining the world economy. They do not care.
Fair enough its the Daily Heil but I thought tory Britnat clowns like these are supposed to be journalists
link to twitter.com
Chilcot? nothing.
Everybody keeps using the word hindsight even though Chilcote emphasised that hindsight should not be required.The information to NOT make a mistake was already there.
Shoulder to shoulder.
Iraq was, and is the USA offshoring of the war on terrrrr, and the war on terrrrrr is all about creating a new enemy to replace the USSR.
No enemy, no profits. And nothing to scare your population into accepting the sorry state we are all in, re the 0.1% insatiably greedy bastards who really run the show.
I guess my comment on Chilcot and Blair is that mainly it’s a distraction from Indy Ref 2, and shouldn’t be allowed to occupy the attention of those who should be concentrating on Independence. Specifically I’m thinking of Salmond, he does seem to be spending a lot of time and media space on this, and that’s OK as long as he redirects it to how Independent Scotland might have acted.
The thing is that from the Independence White Paper, it’s clear that the SNP policy on “Intervention” would be to support UN sanctioned operations, and only UN sanctioned operations via Resolutions. That implies that they would not support NATO operations not sanctioned by the UN, and indeed there were NATO members that did not support the Iraq invasion, I’m thinking of Germany and France for instance who didn’t support the action in Iraq.
I totally support the SNP with that, if anything the world as a whole needs to strengthen the UN, and there are promising movements in that direction, with even the Security Council acting more together than it used to, with the Russians and Chinese not vetoing actions for instance. There will come a time when that would mean the USA and UK wouldn’t veto Russian and Chinese motions (France runs its own game).
So any focus on Chilcot and Blair should make the point that if Scotland had been independent, our position would be that the UK is a foreign though friendly Government, and it would be our Foreign Minister / Ministry that would be dealing with any action, whether supportive or critical.
That’s where I am with Chilcot.
God only knows what the point of this. STV excusing Blair and Westminster probably. Such is their desperate UKOK propaganda. Is there anyone that doesn’t know Sadam was a brutal dictator, unlike all the other non brutal dictatorships like Saudi Arabia for example. They mass execute by hanging with JCB diggers.
link to archive.is
Blair/Brown changed the rules of the PLP so Blair could act as a Dictator. Control freaks. Psycho Bastards. Ed Milliband changed it back.
If any Labour MP doesn’t want to serve under the elected Leader, or in the wishes of their constituency members. They should resign and retire. Another candidate can then be selected and elected in the interests of a political party and the public.
@ mike cassidy says …. ”Oh, and the UK has an extradition treaty with Iraq. Just saying, in case anybody in Iraq is reading this!”
link to gov.uk
I see that Aljazeera (Arabic) is off the air: ‘Channel No Longer Available’. When did that happen?
………………………………………..
Craig Murray: ‘The Truth About Chilcot.’
‘The death toll from the horrific recent Iraq bombings has risen over 250. If Blair had not been absolutely determined to attack Iraq on the basis of a knowing lie about WMD, they would be alive now, along with millions of other dead. ISIS would never have taken control of territory in Iraq and Syria. Al Qaeda would never have grown from an organisation of a few hundred to one of tens of thousands. We would not have a completely destabilised Middle East and a massive refugee crisis……”
link to craigmurray.org.uk
……………………………………
Wee Ginger Dug: ‘The criminal incompetence of the British state, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.’
” …… Well it all exploded in his face like a missile strike in Baghdad, and the whole world is still suffering the consequences. All for Tony’s ego. All for the aggrandisement of a pathetic post-empire that still can’t accept that it’s just a middle sized European country. All for a Britain that still dreams of ruling the waves while it sinks into irrelevance. Western contractors profited from the war to the tune of almost $140 billion. The ghosts of 179 British servicepeople and a quarter million Iraqis paid the price …….
Tony Blair gave an emotional speech in response to the report, close to tears as he realised he wouldn’t be able to charge £50,000 for this speaking engagement. He mentioned 9/11 almost as much as he mentioned Iraq, even though the 9/11 attacks had nothing to do with Iraq at all. And throughout it all he stuck to his lie that there was no secret commitment to go to war even though the Chilcot report found that he’d told George W Bush, “We are with you whatever.” It was everyone else’s fault. Big boys done it and ran away.
The speech was almost as long as the Chilcot report itself and it was a masterclass in sociopathy, begining in a half croaked and unbelieved apology and rising to a crescendo of self-justification …………. ”
link to weegingerdug.wordpress.com
Chilcot and rule Britnatia toryboy Torrance? Nope and why would he.
link to twitter.com
Westminster is saturated in the blood of the innocent!
Casualties of the Iraq War
link to archive.is
Iraq Body Count
link to archive.is
The reaction to the Chilcot enquiry from the élites in Westminster, Whitehall and the State propaganda, when Chilcot utterly destroyed the reputation of the Prime Minister and his accomplices in the political heart of UKOK, civil service and military, is surely the exemplar why the following is now absolute fact:
Westminster cannot represent with any legitimacy the people of Scotland.
The Brit Media, is incapable of executing the role of the fourth estate.
The political class in Westminster, with far too few exceptions is utterly incompetent.
The civil service, including the BBC is a beast eating itself, and cannot ever be trusted to serve Scotland.
The Act of Union is a milestone around the neck of Scotland.
The Westminster establishment and organisations are no longer fit for purpose.
All future negotiations between the organs of state in Scotland should treat their counterparts as hostile at best, belligerents at worst.
The Government of Scotland should quicken negotiations with Europe, and begin the structural change necessary to prepare Scotland to fully engage the rest of the world as a independent nation, without seeking prior approval from Westminster.
Yet again the only political party with any vision and understanding of events in these islands is the SNP.
John Pilger: ‘Iraq, Terrorism and 9/11.’
”State terrorism ….. A million Iraqis dead…. On a scale with Rwanda.”
link to youtube.com
Al Dossary at 3.06
“Why” said N Iraqi engineer.
So what? Was he an important and informed person?
I’ll tell you why. .Because the UN did not agree. Because there were no WMD. Because who rules Iraq is none of our fecking business. Because WE(the US and it allies)put Saddam Hussein in power. Because there is not one rule for us and one different rule for anybody we don’t like. Because the Axis of Evil in this world today is US,UK,France and Israel not those we have provoked into terrifying reprisal against us.
Too much public money is allocated to the Defence budget. Approx £40Billion a year. They use the funds up by illegally attacking innocent people other counties. Or selling off redundant weaponry to disreputable crooks and arms dealers who flood the world with dangerous weaponry. Causing grief and crisis in the world and ruining the world economy. Then Sanctioning and starving the most vunerable.
This toryboy went to Wimbledon. He’s squeezed out this one though. Not very original, Blair used to keep farting out his 2005 triumph as some kind of mental war shield. Maybe all the toryboys from their scotland region are silent because every single tory MP voted for war with Blair.
alexmassie ?@alexmassie 1h1 hour ago
Wondering how many “Blair is a liar & I always knew it & said so at the time” people are also people who voted for him again in 2005?
@Heed
I was thinking this over and I think that’s why I can’t get excited about Chilcot, or Blair. To me, the UK Government is already more than half a foreign government, and what it does is what any other foreign government does, including that of Saudi, Turkey, the USA, Canada. It’s almost not MY government, I don’t feel I have any control over it. And the sooner it completely isn’t mine, the better.
Horatio Nelson has a stab at it
link to archive.is
Legality of Invasion
The report doesn’t express view of legality of military action. That can only be resolved by a properly constituted court.
However, it concludes that the circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for UK military action were far from satisfactory.”
Wordy way of dodging UK.gov actually in the dock. A lot of rich tories are taking Brexit ref result to court so its not that grey and fudgeable law.
Red and blue toryboy Westminster may well have crashed the UK economy with their Brexit catastrophe but it doesn’t come close to the devastation they’ve caused in the middle east.
Jimbo @3.38:
Wellsaid. I’ve been pointing this out for years.
I well remember Phony Blair coming on state broadcaster night after night in the lead up to the illegal invasion and repeating ” It’s not about regime change.”
Didn’t believe him then and I don’t believe him now.
Somehow that point seems to be forgotten. Of course one of his justifications afterwards was that he got rid of a nasty man.
The war criminal Blair still making excuses. He is despicable. He should spend the of his life in jail. People go to prison for stealing a bottle of water. Or get life in jail for killing one person. Blair and his cronies have killed and maimed millions of people and ruined the world economy.
@Dave McEwan Hill, 5:10pm
Actually, as to the workings of the Iraqi Army and the way things worked under the Saddam regime, yes he was informed. Was he important ? Does that matter ? He was there, in the country that suffered due to these illegal acts. ]
Do opinions only count if they are from an informed and important person ? If that is the case then why do 99% of posters even bother to cite their opinions on here.
Prior to the invasion he served as a member of the Iraqi Army. His young daughter when I left was undergoing treatment for cancer – perhaps due to some of the depleted munitions that abound in the region. What was one of the most beautiful cities in the Middle East had been flattened.
And even then, as a Shia living in Basra, he felt that the invasion to remove Saddam had been the correct thing to do. That there was no “Plan B” let alone a “Plan A” after the illegal invasion must be to the eternal shame of the UK and the US
Do I think the invasion of Iraq was legal and justified – no. Period. But then again, none of this was about my opinion. It was about someone who actually experienced it first hand.
No Salmond or any SNP folk said anything on Chilcot in the Herald of Hootsman sites today.
Charles Kennedy; Robin Cook; Jim Sillars even Cameron get mentioned. Funny old world init!
Anyhoo!
link to snp.org
O/T
PS:
Footie 2nd half about to start: Very good so far.
link to neolive.net
I’m finding this Chilcot stuff quite difficult. After seeing Blair endlessly on the TV screen this afternoon at the gym (mercifully with the sound off) I think I’m going to have to avoid all news media for at least a week.
The monstrosity of what that man and the UK Government and Parliament did is beyond comprehension. If Cook, Salmond, Corbyn and 1 million punters on the street could smell the bullshit, why couldnt all of the MPs?
How long until Scotland can rid itself of the Westminster freak show forever? How on earth are any Scots still feeling any bond with or desire to be part of the UK?
Al Dossary says:
6 July, 2016 at 4:06 pm
Maybe there were no WMD – but the point I am trying to make is that as far as Saddam was concerned there were. And if that is waht Saddam was told, perhaps the original source was from someone close.
What do you mean “Maybe”? There’s no doubt, there’s been no doubt for a decade, Saddam had no WMDs. And here’s what makes the whole thing so enraging… You have to be completely disconnected from reality to believe your argument, because what dictator doesn’t ask to see his WMDs? They love that feeling of strength by proxy. You can’t keep Kim Jong Il away from photo opportunities of various failed missile launches; Russia to this day still has it’s annual wave-their-rocket-willies May Day parade… Are you seriously trying to claim Saddam didn’t want to pop by once and actually check what people were telling him?
Of course, if you’d actually read the UN reports at the time you’d have known Hans Blix said Saddam Hussein was providing full co-operation and they were finding nothing. Saddam knew there were no WMDs, and that’s why he let the UN in. Here it is again;
link to theguardian.com
February 2003. Did you read it then? I did. I was on both anti-war marches that year too; not because I was a lunatic lefty or making guess work about the psychology of dictators, but because the evidence was already available at the time. Remember how “Curveball”, the main source for the “Mobile WMD labs” was already discredited? Remember how Dick Cheney destroyed the undercover status of Valerie Plame because her husband had reported the claims of Saddam buying Uranium in Niger were false?
link to en.wikipedia.org
This was all known AT THE TIME. Honestly at this point to believe even Saddam thought there were WMDs I’d have to say you’re either a lunatic or a liar. The reason democracy is so discredited in this country now is that, 13 years later, people such as yourself still try and tell us that up is down. Stop it. Stop it right now. If you have ANY sense of worth in the principles you claim to hold, stop ruining them with this offensive and patronizing treating us like we’re children. The war critics were RIGHT. You were WRONG. Stop it.
No wonder this lot want to leave the Union if this is the kind of politics people defend.
Good round up of the big stories. BfS are excellent imo, for these easily digested business stories.
link to businessforscotland.co.uk
George Bush, Tony Blair, Jack Straw, Alistair Campbell and numerous UK politicians have a lot to answer for, however the corrupt (paper) media and the BBC played a key part in all of this. Will anyone take them to task?
John Pilger: ‘War by media and the triumph of propaganda.’
In 2003, I filmed an interview in Washington with Charles Lewis, the distinguished American investigative journalist. We discussed the invasion of Iraq a few months earlier. I asked him, “What if the freest media in the world had seriously challenged George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld and investigated their claims, instead of channeling what turned out to be crude propaganda?”
He replied that if we journalists had done our job “there is a very, very good chance we would have not gone to war in Iraq.”
That’s a shocking statement, and one supported by other famous journalists to whom I put the same question. Dan Rather, formerly of CBS, gave me the same answer. David Rose of the Observer and senior journalists and producers in the BBC, who wished to remain anonymous, gave me the same answer.
In other words, had journalists done their job, had they questioned and investigated the propaganda instead of amplifying it, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children might be alive today; and millions might not have fled their homes; the sectarian war between Sunni and Shia might not have ignited, and the infamous Islamic State might not now exist.
link to johnpilger.com
Glamaig
“The monstrosity of what that man and the UK Government and Parliament did is beyond comprehension. If Cook, Salmond, Corbyn and 1 million punters on the street could smell the bullshit, why couldnt all of the MPs?”
£$£, and career progression trumped all ?
Mighty me , this feels like my longest day …..everyone else is at the party.
Canny wait to get home and catch up todays events & all your thoughts ( posts)
Andrew M @ 5.09
I might steal that for FB ?
BBC News starts with, Chilcot report, ‘Mistakes were made. Tony Blair accepts mistakes were made’.
It wasn’t mistakes, deliberate, calculated decisions were made.
@Glamaig
Completely agree, although I’ve been reeling since Brexit. Not eating right, not sleeping, glued to media. This is like another gut punch, even though there is nothing new, it’s the official stamp on the horror.
I read on Twitter, someone saying, after everything I wouldn’t be surprised if Scotland voted 60%+ for independence.
If we don’t, then we don’t deserve to be independent.
These last few days have really made me evaluate where I am in life.
Petra @5.09.
You are first to mention the innocent Iraq men women and children murdered by Blair Bush Rumsfeld and Cheyney.
We now hav a 2.6 million word report. We know that 179 of our children lost their lives needlessly, but according to the BBC Whitewash Section, only ‘tens of thousands’ of Iraqis died.
I have just sat through two hours of that embodiment of evil, the psychopath Blair, who would do it all again, based on a sexed up dossier by his very own Malcolm Tucker, Alistair Campbell, a spin doctor, and feels that we should invade Syria, to maintain Britain’s influential role in the world, and best buddy status with the US of A.
The man’s a megalomaniac, who is now coining it in.
He is OK with regime change? When is England going to invade North Korea then?
I watched Shock and Awe , 18th March 3003 today.
Imagine if the US had carpet bombed Glasgow for 24 hours, and women, children, old , frail, defenceless folk died horrible deaths, and homes reduced to rubble?
But it’s ok Over There because it’s only towel heads, duskies, in a far off land. Blast them into submission.
Does the BBC not have official casualty figures of Iraq dead over the past 13 years? Of course they do, and it runs into seven figures.
WE are mass murders, led by a Red Blue and Yellow Tory Westminster monster. Cameron is not condemning Blair, firstly because they are both arch right neo liberal fascist, but also because Theresa May may be bombing some third world country into submission on behalf of America some day soon now, as the 51st State.
Blair is an obscenity, the devil’s henchman.
God help us all if we don’t get out of this Union now.
It’s well worth trying to find and collate documents from back then as they are becoming harder to find
Just 45 minutes from attack
The Iraqi leader has 20 missiles which could reach British military bases in Cyprus, as well as Israel and Nato members Greece and Turkey.
He has also been seeking to buy uranium from Africa for use in nuclear weapons. Those are the key charges in a 14-point “dossier of death” finally published by the Government today.
“dossier of death” mm looks like that could now be written about Blair’s actions
Does anyone remember a public broadcast about dirty bombs being used in UK?
Almost positive it was at this time because I was so disgusted at the blatant fear mongering to get a war and I was so against it
I nominate Tony Blair for an Emmy Award. Breaking voice. Emotion-packed silences. Impressively sincere facial expressions. Darling, you performed magnificently!
@Call me dave:
Herald had a whole article about Salmond’s view: “Alex Salmond: Chilcot shows Blair recklessly committed UK to war”, and Sturgeon was quoted in one of the other articles.
Thepnr says “Yes we can blame Blair and the entire House of Commons. We voted for them and elected them to make our decisions for us. Therefore we too are culpable.”
Sorry Thepnr, I don’t agree with you here. First of all, not all the members of the HoC supported the war, even in the Labour Party – Robin Cook instantly comes to mind. Why are they guilty?
Secondly are you going to exonerate the electorate who voted for MPs who were against the war, who don’t vote at all, or who voted for a losing candidate? Or are they equally culpable?
Thirdly, we did not know in 2001 that Blair would invade Iraq, we hadn’t even witnessed the Twin Towers attack at that point. How can anyone possibly be blamed for an action that took place two years AFTER they voted?
With your logic here, everyone is equally guilty of Thatcherism, after all we either voted or didn’t vote, or voted for someone who didn’t get in, in 1979!
Elections post 2003, particularly Blair winning again in 2005 is another matter, however …
Justice is inseparable from democracy. If a prime minister can avoid indictment for waging aggressive war, the entire body politic is corrupted. In the Chilcot report, there is a reckoning, firm and tough and long overdue. But it’s still not justice.”
Monbiot of The Graun. How do you put the whole of UKOK establishment in the dock though? The Crown v UK.gov wont happen. Where is Crash Gordon for example? Crash’s not one to fight shy of the great debates.
Elite’s self preservation is all that matters. Chilcot wont get a mention by Friday in the teamGB media, its just British history now. And exact UKOK freak show have WMD’s parked 30 miles from Glasgow.
I can see why Labour wanted shot of Corbyn so quickly. They now have a leader who opposed the Iraq war. A rather more difficult call to replace him with someone who did not.
I can’t recall Westminster politics ever being this messy before.
Again the SNP position at the time is vindicated.
I’m very impressed with Jack Straw. Chilcott released at 11.30am; at 4.30pm, Straw tells Sky News “the report doesn’t say that in its 6 million words”. That’s speed reading! He and Blair knew there was nothing to worry about. Blair’s never looked more relaxed than over the last few weeks.
Well, that’s another £10m away from the coffers. I’m away to Chilcott the fence.
Al Dossary suggests that maybe Saddam was told he had WMDs. What an entirely unlikely suggestion.
But let me make one thing clear. The possession of WMDs does not and never did justify an invasion anywhere. If the possession of WMDs justified an invasion why have we not been invaded? And US? And France? And Pakistan? And North Korea? etc etc etc.
Just an excuse and an excuse loaned credibility by the sychophantic UK media.
There is absolutely no excuse of any sort for the invasion of Iraq,whether Saddam had been told and thought he had WMDs or not. Hans Blix said there was none and asked for more time to make sure. The UN refused to countenance an invasion. 100,000 people marched in Glasgow against the invasion. Not one of them believed the WMD bullshit. Neither did all those Labour and Tory MPs who voted for invasion.
We gotta get out. And Blair should be in jail – but not alone. Remember Gordon Brown’s pronouncement “As much money as it takes”
Politics as it is practiced…
How the state can use the public’s mandate for the most appalling ends.
So are we done with Westminster and its politics yet? Politically compromised deregulation and the ruination of an economy, war, brexit and threat to fundamental human and democratic rights, media manipulation, toxic political campaigning?
What will it take to say enough is enough?
@yesindyref2
I saw the Salmond one but that was yesterdays news I think…so to me I don’t count it as current.
If Sturgeon quoted today then I missed it..sorry
But Kennedy and Cook?… many more than these two saw it was all contrived at the time.
Too much tennis and footie distracting me. 🙂
@Sue Varley
Sue collectively we are guilty for the choices our elected representatives make. They are “our” government and make all decisions in our name, at least that’s the theory.
Of course not all support those choices but when a simple majority vote is all that counts then you have to live by the result.
You like me may have also marched against the Iraq war, I wrote to my MP and asked that he respect my view and those that elected him who were against the war. I reckon if everyone had done the same maybe, just maybe we could have had a different vote in Parliament. Too many though, as always choose to do nothing.
So that’s the rub, when you elect someone to speak for you, make sure and tell them how you feel about such important issues. Failure to do so means you can have no cause for complaint, in that regard I’ll stick with what I stated.
We that elected those that voted to go to war with Iraq are culpable. You get another chance to change them, let’s do that.
So are we done with Westminster and its politics yet?
Classical Rome had this first law of state
Salus populi suprema lex esto. Salus populi suprema lex esto
The safety of the people shall be the highest law.
If Scotland can break free and as these Great British war criminals slither off into British history, lets start with this law.
Already yesterday’s news on yesterday’s man
Yes 2 is now the priority
Man famously filmed trying to pull down Saddam’s statue, a man imprisoned for 2 years on false charges under Saddam…
‘blames the invaders for starting a chain of events that destroyed the country. He longs for the certainties and stability of Saddam’s time.’
‘”Saddam has gone, and we have one thousand Saddams now,” he says. “It wasn’t like this under Saddam. There was a system. There were ways. We didn’t like him, but he was better than those people.”
I asked Kadhim he would do if he could meet Tony Blair.
“I would say to him you are a criminal, and I’d spit in his face.”‘
link to bbc.co.uk
There, an actual quote from a sourced, and well known Iraqi.
When did chemical weapons become ‘WMD’? WMD are Nuclear Weapons. Always have been. When did chemical weapons become WMD? When Colon Powell did his Powerpoint presentation when the argument was being lost?
THATs what Blair has to explain. The Intel WAS NOT BAD – it was used. Chilcot is a whitewash. They might as well jail a Lybian.
@call me dave
Today’s by the look of it and this “Responding to the Chilcot report, the former First Minister” … ““We now know that long before Parliament formally voted on whether or not to go to war in Iraq, Tony Blair had told George Bush: ‘I will be with you whatever.’””
Just realised Salmond is the SNP foreign affairs spokesman, so it is totally correct he comments on it.
I didn’t catch all of Blair’s Sermon To The Plebs About What The Middle East Is Really All About, but I’m wondering…
How often did he mention Israel?
(Come to think of it, how often did Corbyn?)
The untouchable status of Israel is one of the reasons why truly important journalists like Pilger have been marginalised, and why so many academics perform semantic acrobatics to avoid any mention of it.
An example, as explained by Noam Chomsky –
‘The Fate Of An Honest Intellectual’:
link to chomsky.info
Just caught BBC shortbread showing short piece with Robin Cook (named as Charles Kennedy) and Charles Kennedy unnamed. Of course not important to check as they are only Scots MPs.
What a useless bunch.
One of the lessons our politicians should learn from all this, a lesson that I don’t believe is in Chilcott, is if there are a million people out demonstrating in the streets, LISTEN TO THEM. If they had listened to those 1 million ordinary people, who knew bullshit when they heard it, all those other people wouldnt have died.
IMO- All UK Prime Ministers have been in the pockets of the USA.
Let’s imagine that they reach an agreement, UK sends in troops to
Back the USA no matter what, spend a few £Billion on support
And you can pocket £1 Million for every £1 Billion spent, payable when
Retire.
How is it paid? I believe Thatcher made around £5 Million in US book sales,
Could US intelligence manufacture such sales figures?
Even Gordon Brown Gravy Train boasts of being able to pick up $Millions
for after dinner speaking, and it still goes on today!
Westminster is the most corrupt government in the world.
They have Centuaries of practice, they have killed over 10!million
Innocents across the globe, and their main players and partners
Get richer and richer from the poorest of poor.
The real question has to be, “Why did it take so very long to reach the conclusion that everyone knew was the truth years ago”?
I was posting just that on various forums, and also on Usenet, before the invasion had even began.
@Robert Peffers @7:33 – It took so long so people would forget to remember to ask questions like – whats a WMD now we know Iraq doesn’t have nukes?
As expected, a typical British Establishment whitewash, like the one that cleared the Right Honourable Alistair Carmichael, MP.
“You are guilty on all charges, but didn’t do anything illegal, so you are set free.”
@ Robert Peffers We had those listening Goverments & listening Corperate Media, but the thing was, they were listening to was the Tills of the warmongerer ringing.
They are ramping up the We hate Putin campain. I hope that the MPs realise the early motion of Mays to renew Nuclear weaponry,is another step in the USAs favour against Russia.
@John
From google:
“A weapon of mass destruction (WMD or WoMD) is a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological or other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans or cause great damage to human-made structures (e.g. buildings), natural structures (e.g. mountains), or the biosphere.“
@ Rock says at 8:22 pm …. ”As expected, a typical British Establishment whitewash, like the one that cleared the Right Honourable Alistair Carmichael, MP. “You are guilty on all charges, but didn’t do anything illegal, so you are set free.”
It wasn’t a Court Case.
@yesindyref2 says: 6 July, 2016 at 1:40 pm:
“In an ideal world politicians of all sides and experts would pore over the report, with a view to working out how to do things better in future.”
The thing is, yesindyref2, that in this age of widespread digital communications the political animals have never been so exposed to scrutiny by the electorate. There is, though, still a rather large fly in the information ointment.
That big fly is the old, traditional media that is now almost completely under the control of the Westminster Establishment. Indeed the traditional media is itself part of the Westminster Establishment.
Not only that but there is an already well trodden route open between the two disciplines of journalist and politician. The very old game of, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”, is always now much in evidence.
There will be common made and told lies from both. In fact that has already been in evidence before the report made it to the public domain.
There is the great truth that the digital media illiterate will die off, and the younger, but incapable of learning, ones do not embrace the new media then the traditional medias will decline and ultimately die.
We can all see that going on before our eyes. The older media is already dying on its feet but will continue to attempt to lie to us until their bitter end and final burial.
Ken500,
“The war criminal Blair still making excuses. He is despicable. He should spend the of his life in jail. People go to prison for stealing a bottle of water. Or get life in jail for killing one person. Blair and his cronies have killed and maimed millions of people and ruined the world economy.”
There is one law for the “plebs” and another for members of the British Establishment.
The overriding function of the law is to protect the British Establishment.
There never has been justice for the “plebs” and never will be, except for token rulings which cause the establishment very little damage.
The justice system is rotten to the core and the vast majority of lawyers, especially judges, are the lowest of the low.
So called “human rights lawyers” included.
Cherie Blair is a “notable” human rights lawyer.
Petra,
“It wasn’t a Court Case.”
It was still a whitewash.
Anybody know if there is substance to this? Sorry, I seem to muck up links…
wikispooks.com/wiki/South_Africa/Nuclear_weapons
IF there is substance to it, without making any direct link with Iraq, it would seem there were nuclear weapons which were unaccounted for and lending credibility to the existence of WMD’s.
I stress, its not saying they were in Iraq, but if there are/were missing weapons, then the mere threat of someone having them is more potent. Is it a spoof? Red Herring? Or kinda sinister?
Anyone else find Bliars media show where he want all emotional, voice quivering, tears in the eyes grotesque and insulting?
Breeks, this should give you some background on Cameron, David Kelly and the missing South African nukes
link to veteranstoday.com
@Thepnr
If you want to hold yourself responsible for the Iraq war, despite having done all you could legally do to stop it, feel free. But don’t hold me responsible for it as well.
Are you equally happy to be held responsible for Thatcherism, trident, foodbank Britain, the lies told by MPs in the indyref etc? Is it your fault that we are not independent today despite everything you did to campaign for Yes? What is your plan to stop these things happening in the future – since you are responsible for them.
Collectively guilt for the choices our elected representatives make may be your theory, but it certainly isn’t mine.
@Breeks
shocking truth about Cameron blair and the stolen nuclear bombs
If you type the above into google it takes you to A true independent Scotland website and there you will read about Gordon Bowden and his search for truth. Mentions South Africa, Cameron and missing nukes. Sorry I’m having a little trouble copying links at the moment.
shocking truth about cameron, blair and the stolen nuclear bombs!
Breeks, just had a look and the articles are very similar. Dont be misled that the WMD that were being talked about were the SA ones. There were no WMD in Gulf 2, that was just a pretext to topple Saddam, who incidentally was supported by the UKand US as a bulwark against Iran after the Ayatollah kicked out the Shah. It was Rumsfeld who supplied the Chem weapons to Saddam for use aginst the Iranians. I only mention it because that part of it all seems to have been erased from history in todays reminiscing about “how bad Saddam really was and it was time for him to go” etc
Who on earth is going to read that mountain of reports?
‘The aim of the report is to learn lessons from past mistakes, but public expectation will be looking for blame. This clash of expectations may well lead to a sense of disappointment’ CLARE SHORT
The only lesson to be learned by voters in Scotland from this report & from the Brexit fiasco is that voting NO was a huge mistake.
These reports would be handy for an author who wants to write a novel about the Iraq War it would save him/her doing a lot of research other than that I can’t see them being very useful.
‘Blairite’is metonymic for deception, despair, destruction, death. No amount of manoeuvring will loosen that illocutionary association.
No lessons have been learned as the inter-generational transmission of misery continues
‘BAGHDAD/AMMAN, 30 June 2016- 3.6 million children in Iraq – one in five in the country – are at serious risk of death, injury, sexual violence, abduction and recruitment into armed groups, according to a new UNICEF report…
The findings show that 4.7 million children need humanitarian aid – a third of all Iraqi children’
link to unicef.org
‘As the crisis in Syria reaches the end of another year of brutal violence today, five of the world’s leading aid organizations say that the three-year old conflict has devastated the lives of millions of children and young people – and a generation is at risk of being lost forever’
link to unicef.org
Hi Alan Mackintosh.
The proof that Iraq did indeed have WMD was published on the web on 13th June 2003.
You can see the two pieces of evidence (found after the invasion) here:-
link to whitehouse.georgewbush.org
BTW: the original page is archived here:-
link to web.archive.org
Alan Mackintosh says:
“It was Rumsfeld who supplied the Chem weapons to Saddam for use aginst the Iranians.”
Yes. It gets conveniently forgotten that Sadam was initially ‘our man’ doing the West’s bidding.
Yes Alan Mackintosh, but if you’re using the possession of WMD’s as the pretext to attack someone, but know they don’t exist, the possibilty of Saddam having these stolen nukes makes the bogus threat he poses more plausible.
The story seems credible, but the problem I have with the story is someone just being able to pinch nuclear weapons, and the lack of any fuss that they are missing. If you are shipping nuclear weapons, even illegally, you are going to have security men never letting the weapons out their sight.
@Sue Varley
Whether you or I personally feel responsible is not the point. That is how others see us especially those whose homes have been bombed and mothers, fathers, children brothers and sisters murdered.
We are all to blame in their eyes because we are ALL British and the British choose to inflict this pain upon them.
In their eyes we are all guilty.
@Thepnr
“We are all to blame in their eyes because we are ALL British and the British choose to inflict this pain upon them.”
This, I can agree with.
@Sue Varley
x
I’m sure I saw TV coverage on Senator John McCain cordially meeting Al Baghdadi of Daesh in early 2015. Does anyone else recall that? And was he handing over funds from the USA?
There is something in the back of my mind that seems to recall a proposal from somewhere to change trading in oil/hydrocarbons from US dollars to another currency, possibly euros. USA objected.
Anybody with any recollections?
Between Chilcott and brexit, we see proof that westminster parties tory, libdem or labour lie all the time.
This should be highlighted in indyref2 and point out what snp have delivered and that snp stand by their promises.
Sandy, Gaddafi was in the process of setting up a new african currency, the Gold Dinar. He was going to sell oil in this currency rather than the Dollar. well you can see how that ended for him.
Greannach, Yes I remeber that as well. It was either Daesh or Al Nusra(aka Al quaeda)
link to veteranstoday.com
Breeks, yeah, i see where you’re going with this. But that then begs the question, if they allude to Saddam having the nukes how do they hide it was them that let them go astray. At the time I think it was more to avoid black South Africa getting their hands on them. TBH, who knows, those that do have David Kelly to think of if they open their mouth
Sandy
If my memory serves me right it was Gadaffi that was trying to set up a new currency for buying oil , hence the reason he had to go
Brian Doonthetoon
That article you’ve posted is a pisstake. A bit like BBC Scotlandshire!
I know that mogabee. I dipped into it regularly ‘back in the day’.
@Sandy,4.52
You are correct. Saddam and Ghaddafi were attacked following their decisions to sell oil in a currency other than dollars. Following Iran’s decision to sell its oil in euros, the US is disregarding its agreement with Iran and has seized Iran’s US bank accounts. Is Russia not selling its oil in renminbi? The demonisation of Russia, Putin and Iran is the response.
And Saddam and the US were in discussions before he invaded Kuwait. However the narrative is portrayed now, it appears that Saddam was given the impression that he had the support of the US, or that they were not bothered. After all the US UK and Arab states had all supported him during the invasion of Iran.
And also worthwhile a mention about PNAC. The “Project for a New American Century” which called for another Pearl Harbour moment(9/11), which would unite the country. It details the idea of some empire building with the destabilising of the middle east, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Syria and eventually Iran. There’s some video testimony of Gen. Wesley Clark (US commander) describing his disbelief when he was presented with the plans.
The BBC will be running around like headless chickens trying to get ‘Some other news where you are’ out to the populace, to get our minds off, just how badly we have been getting shafted once again!
Remember the mysterious missing Asia flight? Remember the tragic sinking of the vessel killing 270 odd children that replaced it in the headlines?
Or am I just being a cynic?