Sir John Chilcot, Chairman of the official inquiry into the Iraq war, has invited submissions from members of the public who believe they have information useful to the inquiry.
The inquiry will consider the UK's involvement in Iraq, how decisions were made and will identify lessons that can be learned.
There are many who want former prime minister (and possible president of Europe), Tony Blair, to be held accountable for taking the UK into the war.
Submissions can be made in writing or via the inquiry website:
- www.iraqinquiry.org.uk
The address for written submissions is:
Submissions,
The Iraq Inquiry,
35 Great Smith Street,
London
SW1P 3BQ.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Imperial Folly
The Telegraph reports that the soldier and former American football player Pat Tillman who was killed in Afghanistan thought George W. Bush was a "cowboy" and the Iraq an "imperial folly".
Slowly, but surely, the truth behind the hype over this invasion will come out. Bush, Cheney et al will be kept very busy trying to defend their reputations in the coming years.
Slowly, but surely, the truth behind the hype over this invasion will come out. Bush, Cheney et al will be kept very busy trying to defend their reputations in the coming years.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Deja Vu
Isn't this what the so called "regime change" meant to stop?
Iraqi shoe-thrower: I was tortured with electric shocks
Iraqi shoe-thrower: I was tortured with electric shocks
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Aziz Jailed
Tariq Aziz, Saddam Hussein's right hand man, was found guilty yesterday of crimes against humanity and jailed for 15 years.
Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan and Sabawi Ibrahim, director of public security (half-brothers of Saddam) were sentenced to death on the same charges.
Aziz will appeal against the sentence. However, he still faces charges for the killing and arrest of hundreds of Kurds in the early 1980s.
Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan and Sabawi Ibrahim, director of public security (half-brothers of Saddam) were sentenced to death on the same charges.
Aziz will appeal against the sentence. However, he still faces charges for the killing and arrest of hundreds of Kurds in the early 1980s.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Mission Accomplished
President Bush has finally admitted that it had been a mistake to hang a banner saying "mission accomplished" on a US battleship, where he declared major combat operations in Iraq over in 2003.
"Clearly, putting a 'mission accomplished' on an aircraft carrier was a mistake."
Quite!
"Clearly, putting a 'mission accomplished' on an aircraft carrier was a mistake."
Quite!
Friday, December 19, 2008
British Troops To Finally Come Home
Gordon Brown has stated that most of the 4,100 British troops would leave Iraq by the end of July 2009. However, he has ruled at an enquiry into this most misguided of wars.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Abu Ghraib To Reopen
Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq is to reopen as a prison in a year, and a facility will be constructed within the prison to act as a museum documenting Saddam Hussein's crimes.
Abu Ghraib has not held prisoners since 2006. A section of the site will be converted into a museum, featuring execution chamber exhibits and other displays of torture tools used by Saddam's regime.
However, there will be no documentation of the abuse carried out there by US military personnel that was revealed in 2004.
Iraq's deputy justice minister, Busho Ibrahim, is quoted by The Associated Press as saying that the American brutality was "nothing" compared with the violence and atrocities of Saddam and the Baath party.
"There is evidence of the crimes (Saddam committed) such as the hooks used to dangle prisoners, tools used to beat and torture prisoners and ... the execution chambers in which 50 or 100 people were killed at once."
Abu Ghraib has not held prisoners since 2006. A section of the site will be converted into a museum, featuring execution chamber exhibits and other displays of torture tools used by Saddam's regime.
However, there will be no documentation of the abuse carried out there by US military personnel that was revealed in 2004.
Iraq's deputy justice minister, Busho Ibrahim, is quoted by The Associated Press as saying that the American brutality was "nothing" compared with the violence and atrocities of Saddam and the Baath party.
"There is evidence of the crimes (Saddam committed) such as the hooks used to dangle prisoners, tools used to beat and torture prisoners and ... the execution chambers in which 50 or 100 people were killed at once."
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Sanctions Breached
Mabey & Johnson, a British bridge construction company, has admitted that it may have made corrupt payments to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq to win an export order.
Mabey & Johnson have been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for more than a year.
In its recent annual results Mabey said that in April this year, it "disclosed to the SFO evidence that had come to light suggesting that in 2002 the company may have indirectly made two payments to the Iraqi regime in breach of UN sanctions".
Mabey added that it "has recently been notified of allegations that certain historical contracts may have been procured through corrupt acts".
The company has called in a firm of City lawyers, Herbert Smith, to carry out its own inquiry into all the corruption allegations. New managers have been installed at the firm.
The UN report in sanctions busting alleges that Mabey paid a $202K kickback between 2001 and 2003, and was given a $3.6M contract by the Iraqis.
Mabey & Johnson have been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for more than a year.
In its recent annual results Mabey said that in April this year, it "disclosed to the SFO evidence that had come to light suggesting that in 2002 the company may have indirectly made two payments to the Iraqi regime in breach of UN sanctions".
Mabey added that it "has recently been notified of allegations that certain historical contracts may have been procured through corrupt acts".
The company has called in a firm of City lawyers, Herbert Smith, to carry out its own inquiry into all the corruption allegations. New managers have been installed at the firm.
The UN report in sanctions busting alleges that Mabey paid a $202K kickback between 2001 and 2003, and was given a $3.6M contract by the Iraqis.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
The Way of The World
The veracity of the justification by the Whitehouse for going to war in Iraq has taken another knock.
The journalist Ron Suskind has published a book "The Way of The World" in which he claims that the White House ordered the CIA to forge and backdate a handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein, to link the Iraq regime to Al Qaeda.
"The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001. It said that 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq –- thus showing, finally, that there was an operational link between Saddam and al Qaeda, something the vice president's office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq.
There is no link."
The Whitehouse has stated that the claim is nonsense.
Whatever the truth or otherwise of the allegations, no matter what evidence is presented, there will be those who believe them and those who don't.
The journalist Ron Suskind has published a book "The Way of The World" in which he claims that the White House ordered the CIA to forge and backdate a handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein, to link the Iraq regime to Al Qaeda.
"The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001. It said that 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq –- thus showing, finally, that there was an operational link between Saddam and al Qaeda, something the vice president's office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq.
There is no link."
The Whitehouse has stated that the claim is nonsense.
Whatever the truth or otherwise of the allegations, no matter what evidence is presented, there will be those who believe them and those who don't.
Monday, July 28, 2008
The House of Saddam
BBC2 at 9:00PM this Wednesday begins broadcasting the House of Saddam, a four part dramatisation of Saddam's time in power.
The series starts in 1979, when Saddam seized the presidency, and ends in 2006 with his execution.
Israeli actor Igal Naor plays Saddam.
Naor said he was asked for blessings by ordinary Arabs, as he filmed House of Saddam in Tunisia.
"We were shooting a few walkabouts that Saddam used to do in the streets of Baghdad.
It involved hundreds of extras and a lot of ordinary Tunisians. Every time I got out of my trailer people were coming to me as if they had never heard of Saddam's death.
They acted as if I was Saddam himself, calling me by his name, asking for my blessing, and wishing me victory in the war.
I checked with the production whether someone asked them to do this. The answer was no."
Nowt so queer as folk!
The series starts in 1979, when Saddam seized the presidency, and ends in 2006 with his execution.
Israeli actor Igal Naor plays Saddam.
Naor said he was asked for blessings by ordinary Arabs, as he filmed House of Saddam in Tunisia.
"We were shooting a few walkabouts that Saddam used to do in the streets of Baghdad.
It involved hundreds of extras and a lot of ordinary Tunisians. Every time I got out of my trailer people were coming to me as if they had never heard of Saddam's death.
They acted as if I was Saddam himself, calling me by his name, asking for my blessing, and wishing me victory in the war.
I checked with the production whether someone asked them to do this. The answer was no."
Nowt so queer as folk!
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