(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Haven’t posted anything in about a week or so on the Inquiry as I’ve had some other issues I’ve been following and there wasn’t really much more coming out as to the tidbits of what was happening on this side of the pond, my interest in this as the Brits are holding these hearings and that’s up to them to sort out there own leaderships guilt or innocence in justification for Iraq.
Tony Blair’s turn to testify is today and that’s already started, you can tune in here as he will be testifying for some six hours, these live video’s are then archived.
Not much has been covered as to these hearings here in the states even when mention of our administration, and others, were talking about taking down Saddam before 9/11, on 9/11 and shortly after and more.
Not the case today, with Blair’s testimony the mainstream here are quickly repoting before, during and probably will be breaking it down all weekend, like this from CNN.
Protests as Blair faces Iraq war grilling
Protesters gather outside Britain’s Iraq War Inquiry venue ahead of an appearance by former PM Tony Blair
It is not uncommon to see people snoozing in the public gallery of Britain’s Iraq Inquiry. The sessions are long. There is lots of detail. Everyone speaks softly and are unfailingly polite.
But this calm, dry, often dull investigation is about to be transformed into a stage for the hottest political theater in town. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s appearance Friday is the inquiry’s highly anticipated climax….>>>>>
Even here they bring in one of the players who’s political life may or may come to an end as the Inquiry moves foreward and he will even testify, Prime Minister Gordon Brown
I’ll place some reports from the previous week plus with some just coming out about Blair, they’re filling up the search sites today, especially from the Brit media rather quickly, sprinkled in with many from here.
16th January 2010 You can’t hide the truth any more, Tony
Campbell has a dominant personality, which is reinforced by his sense of self-righteousness. He was a vital member of Tony Blair’s team, probably the most important after Blair himself. The inquiry is expected to hear Blair’s evidence on January 29. Campbell’s evidence did, therefore, provide an indication of the questions that Blair was likely to be asked….>>>>>
16th January 2010 Hubris, history and a PM woozy on theories of his Divine Right
Pious: Tony Blair with Cpl Gordon Pritchard, who became the 100th serviceman to die in Iraq
As political theories go, the Divine Right of Kings – the idea that rulers were chosen by God and are answerable for their actions to Him alone – does not have a good track record in Britain.
It produced the bloody Civil War in the 1640s, and helped cause Charles I, one of the theory’s leading enthusiasts, to lose both the war and his head.
By 1688, the country had had enough. With a little help from the republican Dutch, it ousted the Stuart kings and dispatched them and their ideas of Divine Right into permanent exile….>>>>>
17 Jan 2010 Alastair Campbell issues garbled retraction over his evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry
Alastair Campbell has been forced to “clarify” his evidence to the Chilcot inquiry on Iraq after denying that Tony Blair misled Parliament…..>>>>>
18 January 2010 Jonathan Powell tells Iraq inquiry: ‘no blood deal’
Tony Blair’s ex-chief of staff Jonathan Powell has told the Iraq inquiry there was “no undertaking in blood” to go to war in March 2002….>>>>>
19 January 2010
No10 aide Jonathan Powell admits no WMD proof existed
Britain went to war with “wrong” intelligence, the Iraq inquiry heard yesterday.
Tony Blair’s former chief of staff Jonathan Powell said the PM sent troops in on the “assumption” Saddam Hussein had WMD – although there was no proof he did.
Mr Powell told the Chilcott inquiry: “Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. We were wrong. We had an assumption because Saddam Hussein had lied about using and getting rid of WMD.”
He added: “Intelligence is something that suggests something – not proves something.”….>>>>>
19 January 2010 Hoon Questioned On Legality Of Iraq War
Geoff Hoon has defended his claim, made in 2002, that Britain could go to war against Iraq without UN approval….>>>>>
19 January 2010 Will Straw: I’m deeply angry with Blair for taking us to war and for the shoddy way he betrayed my father’s loyalty
Soon after Labour came to power in 1997, a contrite Will Straw wrote to Tony Blair to apologise for “letting down and embarrassing the Labour Party”.
The rebellious 17-year-old had been caught selling £10 of cannabis to a tabloid journalist in a sting aimed at undermining his father, Jack Straw, then the Home Secretary. But 12 years later, Will, influential founder of the fastest-rising political blog in the UK, now believes the shoe is on the other foot.
“Gordon Brown and Tony Blair have been a huge disappointment and let down the Labour Party,” he believes. “I am especially deeply angry with Blair for being duplicitous about his reasons for taking us to war with Iraq, hiding behind WMDs when he was content to prosecute a war for regime change. And also,” he takes a sharp intake of breath, “for the unbelievably shoddy way he betrayed my father, demoting him from Foreign Secretary to Leader of the House, especially after my dad had been so loyal.”….>>>>>
20 January 2010 Brown ready for Iraq inquiry before election
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday he was prepared to appear before the Iraq War inquiry before the coming election if asked to do so, a move which could potentially hit Labour at the ballot box…..>>>>>
20 January 2010 The Rule of Law Has Been Lost
What is the greatest human achievement? Many would answer in terms of some architectural or engineering feat: The Great Pyramids, skyscrapers, a bridge span, or sending men to the moon. Others might say the subduing of some deadly disease or Einstein’s theory of relativity.
The greatest human achievement is the subordination of government to law. This was an English achievement that required eight centuries of struggle, beginning in the ninth century when King Alfred the Great codified the common law, moving forward with the Magna Carta in the thirteenth century and culminating with the Glorious Revolution in the late seventeenth century.
Snip
In the first decade of the twenty-first century, this achievement was lost in the United States and, perhaps, in England as well…..>>>>>
21 January 2010 Saddam’s 45-minute WMD launch claim was included in dossier “for local colour”
An inquiry into Britain’s role in the second Gulf War has been provided with a report that dictator Saddam Hussein’s claims of launching weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes was included to add “local colour”…..>>>>>
22 January 2010 Andreas Whittam Smith: Don’t be surprised if a protest movement flowers in Britain
In Britain there are also many reasons why voters are hostile to the political class. Heading the list, albeit muted for the moment, is public disgust with MPs’ exploitation of expenses.
The two theatres of war, Iraq and Afghanistan, are lumped together as a cause of discontent. Voters see them as one incident, although they are logically distinct in numerous ways. Between them they combine needless loss of live, government deceit, poor planning and absence of vital equipment. Political insiders once believed public opinion would soon “move on” from Iraq. Yet four inquiries in six years have failed to achieve closure; hence the establishment of the Chilcot Inquiry now taking evidence. On this subject, too, the electorate remains extremely angry…..>>>>>
23 January 2010 Ex-UN weapons inspector says Tony Blair changed tactics before invasion
TONY BLAIR gave up hope of finding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction before the invasion was launched, ex-UN inspector Hans Blix said yesterday.
Dr Blix claimed the former prime minister was desperate to find evidence that Saddam Hussein had a doomsday arsenal so he could justify the war….>>>>>
24 January 2010 Iraq war was illegal, top lawyer will tell Chilcot inquiry
Foreign Office official’s evidence the day before attorney general Lord Goldsmith appears will increase pressure on Tony Blair….>>>>>
25 January 2010 David Kelly post mortem to be kept secret for 70 years as doctors accuse Lord Hutton of concealing vital information
Whistle-blower: Dr Kelly died after casting doubt on Government claims about Saddam’s weapons
Vital evidence which could solve the mystery of the death of Government weapons inspector Dr David Kelly will be kept under wraps for up to 70 years.
In a draconian – and highly unusual – order, Lord Hutton, the peer who chaired the controversial inquiry into the Dr Kelly scandal, has secretly barred the release of all medical records, including the results of the post mortem, and unpublished evidence….>>>>>
26 January 2010 UK government adviser: Iraq war was illegal
A former legal adviser to the Britain’s Foreign Office told the country’s Iraq inquiry Tuesday that the government ignored his warning that invading Iraq would be illegal.
Another government lawyer, who resigned in protest at the invasion, said every legal officer in the department shared the opinion it was against international law……>>>>>
26 January 2010 Iraq invasion had no ‘legal basis in international law’
Sir Michael, who was the most senior legal adviser at the Foreign Office at the time of the invasion, told the inquiry he disagreed with the advice of Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney general, that military intervention was lawful.
“I considered that the use of force against Iraq in March 2003 was contrary to international law,” he said in a written statement.
“In my opinion, that use of force had not been authorised by the (United Nations) Security Council, and had no other basis in international law.”…..>>>>>
26 January 2010 Lioness gives Chilcot inquiry teeth
Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy legal adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2001-2003, leaves after giving evidence at the Chilcot inquiry Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
The Iraq inquiry burst into life yesterday, thanks to a quiet, thoughtful yet furious woman who ripped into the government like a genteel but very hungry lioness. Elizabeth Wilmshurst was the first witness to get a round of applause from the public.
Her evidence was brief, less than an hour, but Jack Straw and Lord Goldsmith must have loathed every word. It was like being torn apart by a cross between Judi Dench as “M” and Princess Diana – softly spoken, but as hard and inflexible as a crowbar.
And it had been almost as bad in the morning, when Sir Michael Wood, Ms Wilmshurst’s old boss, set about sticking pins into a wax model of Jack Straw. Not any old pins, either: these were beautifully chased antique pins, honed like the slenderest Toledo blades, so sharp he can’t have felt them before he saw the spurting blood. Or as the late Boris Karloff put it: “An icicle inserted in the brain will melt, and leave no trace.”…>>>>>
Now bringing it into today with a few reports, once again quickly adding up.
29 January 2010 Families of Iraq war dead voice anger at ‘smirking’ Blair
Former prime minister accused of ‘not facing up to facts’ as he gives evidence to Chilcot inquiry
Highlights from Tony Blair’s evidence to the Iraq inquiry
FreeVideoCoding.comThe families of British military personnel killed in Iraq condemned Tony Blair’s performance before the Chilcot inquiry today, accusing him of being disrespectful.
One, Theresea Evans, asked the former prime minister to look her in the eye and say sorry for the loss of her son.
Evans, from Llandudno, North Wales – whose 24-year-old son, Llywelyn, died in a Chinook helicopter crash in 2003 – said: “I would simply like Tony Blair to look me in the eye and say he was sorry. Instead, he is in there smirking.”
Anne Donnachie, from Reading, Berkshire, whose 18-year-old son, Paul, was killed by a sniper in 2006, said she blamed Blair for his death.
“From what I have heard this morning, he is just denying everything,” she said. “He will just not face up to the facts. I believe he made a massive mistake when he sent my son to Iraq.”….>>>>>
29 January 2010 Tony Blair asked about WMD and the 45 minute claim
Tony Blair has remained defiant at the Chilcot Inquiry about the certainty with which he made his decision to go to war with Iraq.
The former prime minister was asked about the quality of evidence he received from the weapons inspectors in the intelligence dossier published in September 2002.
He was specifically asked about the 45 minute claim and what it referred to…..>>>>>>
Least we remember, there was Absolutely No Evidence that Saddam had anything to do with 9/11, as Bliar keeps mentioning that day, yet they felt it was More Important to Leave Afghanistan and the search for bin Laden and al Qaeda,the guilty, to stagnate while forcing their will on an Innocent Country and People!!
Watch the Inquiry Live when in Session
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The Inquiry just restarted for the afternoon session there about 15min ago.
Watch the Inquiry Live when in Session