May 19 2010

Britain’s Iraq War Inquiry: In The U.S.!

(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

The bush apparently won’t be questioned, probably couldn’t find cheney, in his undisclosed location, to sit down next to him while being so. Also may not question other top administration figures. We’ll see what this produces, every little tidbit, like many that came out early in the Inquiry, can only help and cause even more questions hopefully finally leading up to this country facing it’s own accountabilities.

But breath is not being held nor great expectations of my seeing the guilt cleansed!

UK Iraq inquiry to question officials in US


19 May 2010 Britain’s Iraq war inquiry panel arrived in the United States on Tuesday as it continues to investigate mistakes made in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, but officials are not expected to hold talks with former President George W. Bush.

The five-member panel appointed by the British government is examining the case made for the war and errors in planning for post-conflict reconstruction – but it won’t apportion blame or establish criminal or civil liability.

It has taken live testimony from British politicians and military and intelligence officials – including a gripping evidence session with former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The inquiry’s staff said the panel will hold five days of private meetings in Washington and Boston, but would not disclose in advance who was meeting with the team.

Snip

Inquiry spokesman Rae Stewart said details of meetings held in the U.S. would be disclosed once the panel, led by former civil servant John Chilcot, returns to Britain.

He said the panel visited France on May 4 to question ex-French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, former military chief Gen. Henri Bentegeat and others.

Snip

Details of private correspondence between Blair and Bush have been provided to the panel, but have not been released publicly. Continued

If interested, I started a site to keep track of the British Inquiry and then the Dutch and other inquiries and hearings held, adding some related material as well. You can visit it here to get the reports and links. The early testimony gave many little, but important, facts on what was happening before 9/11, on 9/11 as well as shortly after related to Iraq. Many also on how government and military personal here were dealing with their counterparts from Britain and elsewhere.

1 comments

  1. There is evidence to believe the invasion and occupation of Iraq was set in stone long before it took place. This little nugget was found in an interview about torture and the Plame leak. Link is below.

    “Okay, here’s the deal,” the CIA’s unnamed director of Iraq operations told Kiriakou and Grenier. “We’re going to invade Iraq next spring. We’re going to overthrow Saddam Hussein. We’re going to establish the largest Air Force base in the world and we’re going to transfer everybody from Saudi Arabia to Iraq. That way, al-Qaeda won’t have that hanging over us, that we’re polluting the land of the two holy cities.”

    Kiriakou wrote that he and Grenier were stunned.

    “We’re going to invade Iraq?” Grenier asked the unnamed director of Iraq operations, Kiriakou wrote. Kiriakou added that Grenier had later told him that one of his bosses had briefed him “on the executive branch’s thinking a couple of months earlier,” meaning the war had been in the planning stages for some time, which supports similar claims made by other former Bush administration officials.

    “It’s a done deal, Bob,” the director said. “The decision’s already been made … . the planning’s completed, everything’s in place.”

    Kiriakou wrote that the Iraq director explained to him and Grenier that the ruse the Bush administration cooked up was “ratchet up the pressure on weapons of mass destruction … go to the United Nations toward the end of the year to make it look as if we wanted to ask the UN Secretary Council to authorize force. We expected Russian, Chinese and French opposition … and we were prepared to go it alone.”

    Kiriakou said he was told the public and Congressional debates surrounding the invasion of Iraq had no bearing on the administration’s plans.

    Truthout – http://www.truthout.org/interv…

    If this is true, that the decision had been made long before, the “Congressional debates” about going to war in Iraq were little more than an orchestrated dog and pony show aimed at the home audience.

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