Chilcot

[poontang]

Next Wednesday, after nearly 8 years, and weighing in at a hefty 2.6 million words long the Chilcot enquiry report into the Iraq war will finally be published,

 

Will it be an open, clear and fair account of the events leading up to the war in Iraq, or will it be, as many believe, a whitewash?

 

Tony Blair, for all his faults, won 3 general elections on the bounce for the Labour Party and yet he must now be the most vilified man in British politics, not least in the 'new' Labour party.

Where did it all go wrong for him? Is he really a war criminal as some allege, or is he just a naughty boy?

 

Thoughts please.

[felly100]

I honestly don't believe Blair and Bush got together,prayed to their Lord and decided to invade.

They must have been told by their spooks that it was vitally important for our National interests to depose Saddam.

In my eyes he isn't a war criminal.

[Danger-Mouse]

I honestly don't believe Blair and Bush got together,prayed to their Lord and decided to invade.

They must have been told by their spooks that it was vitally important for our National interests to depose Saddam.

In my eyes he isn't a war criminal.

 

'I would never do anything against the advice of the Attorney General," the Prime Minister has repeatedly insisted. Yet he did do something against the Attorney General's advice. He helped the Americans invade Iraq and replace its Ba'athist regime.

Lord Goldsmith's confidential advice to the Prime Minister on the legality of invading Iraq without a second UN resolution, revealed for the first time last week, was equivocal about almost everything. It was clear about one point and one point only: "Regime change," insisted the Attorney General, "cannot be the object of military action." Any invasion which had that goal would be unambiguously illegal under international law.

As everyone knows now, and knew perfectly well then, the whole point of the invasion of Iraq was regime change. President Bush said so with Tony Blair standing by his side. At the joint press conference the two leaders gave at George Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, on April 6, 2002, he helpfully summed up the purpose of the military action against Iraq in a single sentence: "We support regime change." For George Bush, no further elaboration was necessary

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3616571/Regime-change-is-illegal-end-of-debate.html

 

He took us into an illegal war. Ergo he`s a war criminal.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Danger-Mouse

[albifrons]

Undoubtedly a war criminal.

The British public were conditioned via the press and media over a period of months prior to the decision to invade Iraq, with threats of a 45 minute warning and WMD.

Bush and Blair concocted this plan for regime change and added ballast with WMD, and we all know what they found.

The deaths of thousands will be a forever linked to Bush Blair and the 45 minute warning!

[Lloyd90]

If concluded that he is a war criminal, what consequences would he suffer ?

 

I doubt any, therefore I also doubt that the report will give the justice that the world deserves.

 

I did also doubt that we would vote to leave the EU, although I hoped deep down that we would, so I will watch intently

[Danger-Mouse]

If concluded that he is a war criminal, what consequences would he suffer ?

 

I doubt any, therefore I also doubt that the report will give the justice that the world deserves.

 

I did also doubt that we would vote to leave the EU, although I hoped deep down that we would, so I will watch intently

 

Chilcot report isn`t a legal inquiry so no legal action will come from it.

 

"Its remit has been to examine the way decisions were made both before and during the US-led invasion, what actions were taken, and identify what lessons can be learned."

[Lloyd90]

 

Chilcot report isn`t a legal inquiry so no legal action will come from it.

 

"Its remit has been to examine the way decisions were made both before and during the US-led invasion, what actions were taken, and identify what lessons can be learned."

 

So we may conclude that he is a war criminal and say "OH well, lesson's learnt, we'll try not to do that again."

 

Now I see why they may not have to even bother to cover anything up. The whole enquiry is pointless

 

Foreign nations like ours and America have been influencing regime change and leadership struggles for years all over the globe really, why is this any different ?

[Danger-Mouse]

 

 

Foreign nations like ours and America have been influencing regime change and leadership struggles for years all over the globe really, why is this any different ?

 

It`s different because we sent in the troops. The US has undoubtedly meddled in other struggles for regime change but it`s usually done through relatively covert means.

[UKPoacher]

It has al been covered in various books. As soon as Bush came into power Rumsfeldt was tasked with creating an invasion plan for Iraq. They had it in place and had assembled all the necessary hardware by the time they were ready to go in. Bush then coerced Blair to go along with it, which he stupidly did and the UK went in unprepared and unwillingly.

 

Blair had no legal or moral right to promise British support. He lied in Parliament and to the people. That makes him a war criminal in my eyes.

[kingo15]

 

It`s different because we sent in the troops. The US has undoubtedly meddled in other struggles for regime change but it`s usually done through relatively covert means.

You mean the cia funded every known terrorist leader so far and trained them

[TIGHTCHOKE]

White Wash

 

 

Hog Wash

 

 

I am sure it will fail to surprize many people.

[toontastic]

Slightly off topic, but Blair is vying for control of the uk team that negotiates Brexit. Some believe it may be an attempt to deflect interest from what Chilcote says about him.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

TB can **** off!

[felly100]

TB can **** off!

I blame Brian May.

[Vince Green]

Blair and Bush were two silly and egotistical men. They had seen the invasion of Afganistan result in a huge boost to their personal popularity ratings (temporarily) and had seen their countries united in a patriotic fervour (temporarily) that brushed aside more pressing issues like the economy and unemployment.

 

So they thought "that was great! lets try it again"

 

Iraq was not that easy to make a case against so they had to manufacture one. Bush was not a good speaker but Tony was so the Americans flattered him outrageously wound him up like a clockwork toy and sent him off round the world to speak to world leaders.

 

Tony Baloney loved the attention and basked in the limelight like the tart that he was. He was GWB's poodle

 

The key thing to me about the invasion of Iraq and speaks volumes about their real motives. Events were co-ordinated to coincide with the prime time news channels in America and they kept the news media fed with top quality footage all the way through. It was like a reality TV show

[JRDS]

White Wash

 

 

Hog Wash

 

 

I am sure it will fail to surprize many people.

This.

[Vince Green]

Slightly off topic, but Blair is vying for control of the uk team that negotiates Brexit. Some believe it may be an attempt to deflect interest from what Chilcote says about him.

There is a theory that the Labour bigwigs are preventing Corbyn from resigning until the day that the Chilcot report comes out to deflect its impact. I personally don't believe Corbyn would play ball with that idea. He hated everything that Blair stood for.

 

we will see

[Fuji Shooter]

There is a good programme on the TV next Monday I think on Channel 5 - The Blair Rich Project.

 

Should be an interesting watch.

[Scully]

I haven't the words to express how much I detest that man. He is the worst example of a politician ever to grace our country in my opinion.

[paulnix]

 

Chilcot report isn`t a legal inquiry so no legal action will come from it.

 

"Its remit has been to examine the way decisions were made both before and during the US-led invasion, what actions were taken, and identify what lessons can be learned."

Surely it should lead to it though ?

If they still prosecute 90 year old guards and office clerks from Nazi concentration camps who had no say or choice in it then they got to go through the legal process with Blair for all those people who died and are still dying because of it.

[Yellow Bear]

I haven't the words to express how much I detest that man. He is the worst example of a politician ever to disgrace our country in my opinion.

Sorry - could not resist correcting

[Danger-Mouse]

Surely it should lead to it though ?

If they still prosecute 90 year old guards and office clerks from Nazi concentration camps who had no say or choice in it then they got to go through the legal process with Blair for all those people who died and are still dying because of it.

 

I`d love to see his smug face in the dock at The Hague. But I doubt it will happen.

[norfolk dumpling]

Why has this report/investigation taken so long? Will it be a whitewash or a Hillsborough I've not forgiven Blair for the Hunting Act so I'm rather hoping we will hear the truth.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Don't hold your breath!

[four-wheel-drive]

I watched a program on TV a couple of days ago and it makes you want to cry for all of the good people on all sides that have died and worst all because of those two men Blair and Bush I can and did at the time see the point in getting rid of Saddam as he was a bad man but why oh why would you go in with no plan for after killing him it was madness and both of them should be locked up for what they did.