Known and Unknown

I see that Donald Rumsfeld, George W Bush's ex Defence Secretary, is planning to publish his memoirs (entitled "Known and Unknown") in January 2011.

Doubtless these will correct any misunderstandings that people may have about him and the Iraq war.

Prison Without Trial

The BBC have a video report about the following:

"A report by the human rights group, Amnesty International, says that tens of thousands of people in Iraq are being detained in prisons without trial.

It says many of the detainees are being held for years often facing psychological and violent abuse."

Isn't that one of the reasons Saddam was overthrown?

Clueless

Colonel Tim Collins, of the Royal Irish Regiment, has told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the UK government and military leaders had "absolutely no idea" what to do in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq.

He was quoted by the Press Association:

"I don't think anybody had any idea why it was we were going to do this.

I rather thought that there would be some sort of plan and the Government had thought this through and I was clearly wrong.

When I gave my now notorious talk to the Royal Irish, I was trying to rationalise for those young men what was going on from my standpoint. As it turned out, it had a wider appeal because nobody had any idea why this was happening.

It became very apparent to me shortly after crossing the border that the Government and many of my superiors had no idea what they were doing.

There was no preparation. They had absolutely no idea what to do. We turned up, took away a country's infrastructure and its law and order with absolutely nothing to put in its place."

An excellent analysis of the failings of the Iraq misadventure!

Blair Cancels Book Launch Party

In the event that anyone is actually interested, Tony Blair has "postponed" a launch party for his memoirs at London's Tate Modern museum planned for today, after anti-war protesters threatened to target the event.

Party or not, these cancellations certainly give the book extra publicity.

Blair Cancels Book Signing

Following the PR debacle in Dublin where former prime minister Tony Blair attempted to attend a book signing event for his newly launched memoirs ("A Journey"), but was rewarded with a pelting of eggs, he has bowed out of a planned signing in London after protesters threatened to target it.

Blackwater Fined

The BBC reports that the private defence company Blackwater has been fined $42M for violating US export and arms traffic laws.

The nearly 300 breaches include the export of illegal weapons to Afghanistan and the unauthorised training of foreign nationals.

The settlement means that Blackwater, now known as XE Services, will be able to bid for government contracts.

"XE has not commented on the settlement of this case. But its directors have recently stressed that XE is a different company to Blackwater, having implemented a number of management and procedural changes."

So that's alright then!

Last Combat Troops Leave

The last US combat troops have left Iraq, seven-and-a-half years after the US led invasion.

At the end of August there will be 50,000 US troops serving in Iraq, as Iraqi security forces take responsibility for securing their country.

As to what happens then, we shall see.

Penance?

Some debate has been stirred up over the "morality" of the British Legion accepting the biggest donation in its history from Tony Blair, who has promised to donate all the proceeds, including the £4.6M advance, from his memoirs.

There is also speculation as to the rationale for Blair's gift; guilt, penance?

However, one thing is clear, his financial circumstances must now be very solid for him to be able to contemplate giving away such a large sum of money.

He will of course receive tax relief on this donation (estimated by the media at being around £2M on the advance fee alone).

Leaving Iraq To The Wolves

Tariq Aziz, Saddam Hussein's former deputy, has accused the US president of "leaving Iraq to the wolves" as a resulkt of the decision to withdraw combat troops during a period of increasing violence.

Aziz told The Guardian that the United States should stay in Iraq, in order to correct the mistakes it had made since the 2003 invasion.

"We are all victims of America and Britain.

They killed our country in many ways. When you make a mistake you need to correct a mistake, not leave Iraq to its death."

He went on to say:

"For 30 years Saddam built Iraq and now it is destroyed. There are more sick than before, more hungry.

The people don't have services. People are being killed every day in the tens, if not hundreds.

I was encouraged when [US President Barack Obama] was elected president, because I thought he was going to correct some of the mistakes of Bush. But Obama is a hypocrite. He is leaving Iraq to the wolves."

Aziz was jailed for 15 years in 2009 for murder, and given a seven-year term in August 2009 for his role in expelling Kurds from Iraq's north.

Mission Not Accomplished

President Barack Obama has confirmed that he will honour his pledge to end all combat operations in Iraq by 31 August.

However, he has stated that 50,000 of 65,000 US troops currently in Iraq will remain until the end of 2011, as "advisers" and protect US interests.

Wisely, given that Iraq is still in turmoil, President Obama did not claim that this was "Mission Accomplished!".

However, whilst troops may be being pulled out of Iraq, more troops (some 30,000 extra) are being sent to Afghanistan.