Chilcot inquiry: US said Iraqis would welcome invasion

[deminks]

Source: Guardian

British attempts to persuade the US to plan for the consequences of an invasion of Iraq foundered on a "blind spot" in Washington where senior officials thought "everyone would be grateful and there would be dancing in the streets", the Chilcot inquiry into the war was told today.

(snip)

It was assumed that all would be well, especially if power was handed to an exiled opposition spokesman such as Ahmed Chalabi. "We said they had very little credibility in Iraq," Chaplin told the inquiry.

It is known that Chalabi was feted by the neocons in Washington, including those in the Pentagon who took over the job of deciding how Iraq should be run after the invasion.

Senior figures in Whitehall said the failure to draw up a proper plan to protect the civilian population after Iraq was occupied was a prima facie breach of the Geneva conventions.

Today, Chaplin and Sir Peter Ricketts, then political director at the FCO, said they were dismayed by the way the Bush administration failed to take the issue seriously, despite personal appeals from Tony Blair to George Bush.

(end snip)





Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/01/chilcot-inquiry-iraq-edward-chaplin

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I dunno. I think the eventual caving of Tony Blair to Bushies makes him look evermore the poodle.

[Fumesucker]

1. Rumsferatu threatened to fire any of his planning staff that...

Mentioned planning for the occupation..

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_09/009469.php

"The secretary of defense continued to push on us ... that everything we write in our plan has to be the idea that we are going to go in, we're going to take out the regime, and then we're going to leave," Scheid said. "We won't stay."

Scheid said the planners continued to try "to write what was called Phase 4," or the piece of the plan that included post-invasion operations like occupation.

Even if the troops didn't stay, "at least we have to plan for it," Scheid said.

"I remember the secretary of defense saying that he would fire the next person that said that," Scheid said. "We would not do planning for Phase 4 operations, which would require all those additional troops that people talk about today.

"He said we will not do that because the American public will not back us if they think we are going over there for a long war."

[Dead_Parrot]

2. Hearts and minds...

two things missing from the bush admin.

[RedSock]

3. it went off as planned

these guys are far from incompetent. most of what has happened was part of the plan.

[apnu]

4. I remember this talk during the run up.

It was one of the justifications for the war. Every right-wing pigeon was spouting this after the yellow cake from Nigeria bullshit.

[Zoeisright]

5. Oh, sure, anybody would support having their country bombed

into smithereens. What a clueless asshole.

[ikri]

6. They heard what they wanted to hear

They had people like Chalabi telling them how wonderful it was all going to be and they simply believed it without question.

Most of us have probably had bosses at some point who would only listen to view points that backed their existing opinions, it is a similar situation except these guys had the power to ruin whole nations.