Chilcot to 'heavily criticise' Tony Blair over Iraq war

[seafan]

Source: UK Guardian

Tony Blair is likely to be criticised heavily by the official inquiry into the Iraq war, which is expected to focus on his failure to consult the cabinet fully in the run-up to the 2003 invasion.

.....

Angus Robertson, the SNP's leader at Westminster, said: "The tapestry of deceit woven by Tony Blair over the past decade has finally unravelled. Despite his best attempts to fudge the issue when he was called to give evidence, the Chilcot inquiry have recognised the former prime minister's central role in leading the UK into worst foreign policy disaster in recent history.

.....

Members of the inquiry have said in private to former colleagues in Whitehall that the best way to gauge the inquiry's findings is to identify areas that have been raised repeatedly by Chilcot and his team. Three key areas which fall into this category are: the lack of proper cabinet consultation; the use of intelligence; and the failure to make preparations for the post-war reconstruction.

.....

The inquiry is also expected to focus on Blair's assurances to Bush in the run-up to the Iraq war. Blair rejects criticism that he told the former president in a meeting at his Texas ranch in April 2002 that he would support an invasion as long as the US agreed to try to secure agreement from the United Nations.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jul/31/chilcot-criticise-tony-blair-iraq

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Yes, Mr. Blair. Both you and your co-conspirator George W. Bush must be deeply scrutinized and for the first time, held supremely accountable for war crimes.



Photograph: Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images



(via Times Online)

[Scottybeamer70]

1. ooooooooohhhhhhhhhh.....I bet that will scare him!

NOT

[swilton]

10. Precisely - sticks and stones....

as the old cliche goes.

He is a murderer of at least a million + Iraqis as well as scores of his own people...Blood on his hands and they ought to trot him off to the Hague as a war criminal

[Solly Mack]

2. Golly..and will they do so while he's in the comfy chair?

Sadly..that's still more than Bush got.

How pathetic is that?

[SharksBreath]

3. I would say that's part of the reason we are where we are today.

The Republican party would never let an opportunity pass to destroy the Democrats.

But every chance the Dems get they always let the GOP off the hook.

Imagine if we prosecuted Nixon. No Cheney.

Imagine if we prosecuted Reagan for Iran/Iraq. The 1st Bush presidency never happens because he's on trial.
We never have a war with Iraq because no Democratic President would have told
Saddam it was cool to go into Kuwait. No Clarence Thomas. No Bush. The Supreme Court would be very liberal.

So Bush II never wins.

Next chance. Imagine if Pelosi impeached Bush in 2006 or Obama DOJ prosecuted Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rove and Rummsy.

Everyday on your TV. Tea party who.

Congressional Republicans getting dragged into testify.

The GOP would never win the 2010 elections.

Time after time. We let them off the hook for them messing up the country.

Because if we prosecute them that will mess up the country.

Yet hear they go again the enemy within ready to blow the place up.

[Solly Mack]

4. I'd agree.

[seafan]

6. You summed up the last 45 years very succinctly.

Thank you, SharksBreath. It is EXACTLY why we are here today.


And now, we can only wonder bleakly how great this country could have been. So many critical opportunities in our history that we had to hold these traitors to America to account. In every instance, cowardly politicians ran like hell the other way.



Robert Parry: Democrats, the Truth Still Matters!



The one lesson I hope everyone will take to heart is that no politician is going to be a savior for protecting the things we hold dear if we do not involve ourselves in the process of standing up for, defining and insisting on those rights. Every day. Assertively.

[Muskypundit]

11. Bush will not get that in a million years

Because our 'left wing' media will NEVER call iraq what it is like the british do. A major foreign policy disaster.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Blair, Murdoch and the Iraq war — a study of power

Blair’s first comments about Murdoch yesterday were quite pathetic. The contrast with Gordon Brown’s 30 minute parliamentary tirade says it all. If David Cameron is being subjected to enormous scrutiny over his dealings with Murdoch then so should Blair, Brown and John Major.

To understand Murdoch it is worth reading this BBC magazine series on media moguls which quotes Tabloid Nation author Chris Horrie as saying: “They all want to be Hearst. You start wars, select presidents and in the end go mad.”

Rupert Murdoch may yet follow the trend. He certainly has made or broken dozens of political leaders over the years and was a key factor in the invasion of Iraq. At the time he predicted this would deliver an oil price of $US20 a tonne which would be like a tax cut for everyone.

Think about it for a moment: if the Murdoch media properties had campaigned against the Iraq invasion does anyone seriously believe it would have happened?

http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/07/27/blair-murdoch-and-the-iraq-war-a-study-of-power/

[No Elephants]

7. Have mercy! Gosh, I hope no one sends a very strongly worded letter.

[Doctor_J]

8. We now know that both Blair and Bush were working for Murdoch

It would be so nice for the entire Murdoch family to be sent to the gallows on pay-per-view.

[jwirr]

9. At least someone is having to face the music even if it is only boooshes

poodle.

[JohnyCanuck]

12. Blair says, "You can't blame me. I was just following orders.....

Mr. Murdoch's orders."