Clare Short, spilled the beans on her former and somewhat disgraced boss, Tony Blair, known here as Bliar or simply, The Poodle. This morning, at the Chilcot Inquiry into why Great Britain was very keen on joining Bush's folly at all cost, Ms Short became the first witness who has given evidence and used the words deceit, lies and misleading the parliament to describe her former party's conduct in the run-up to what we know, and have known for quite some time, as a disastrous and unjust war.
What the rest of the enlightened world knew, what we knew in these boards, and the dogs in the streets knew as well was that it was a morally corrupt and illegal invasion under the weak and vague pretext of the catchphrase known as Weapons of Mass Destruction. A sexed-up "dossier" was quickly dispatched as the proof in the pudding and all hell ensued. Some even bought the meme of Iraq being able to send a nuclear head anywhere in Europe within 45 minutes!
Some may rip take her deposition apart and claim that she is acting as a lone wolf, a wild & emotional card that has an account to settle.
In any case here are the other main points she made this morning:
She accused Downing Street of lying about what President Chirac actually said about vetoing a second UN resolution. That we know is true since the French at that time said that they agreed on the second resolution but made the crucial point that it would exclude any automaticity in the use of force. (See the entire text of resolution 1441 linked downthread and the printed text of the French, Russian & Chinese statement. It's an important document as the whole war hinged on the interpretation of that resolution , as far as the English and certainly the American were concerned.)
She accused Britain and the US of smearing Hans Blix because they were worried his weapons inspection mission would succeed. That is also true. If you remember, Hans Blix was given little time to prove his point and both Bush & Blair were adamant that their war had to go ahead, regardless.
She said that Blair gave her assurances about the future role of the UN just before the war started because he wanted to stop her from resigning at the same time as Robin Cook (you recall Robin Cook did resign at that point. In fact he resigned on Patrick's Day, a day I always remember.)
Interestingly enough, Ms Short also called for the role of the attorney general to be re-visited. Certainly a lot of us think that Goldsmith's sudden turnaround (he was against it before he was for it) had been somewhat odd, to say the least. When Blair had appeared before the panel last Wednesday, he could not recall any conversations he might have had with his former Attorney General before Goldsmith’s sudden change of opinion with regard to the legality of war. I wonder why.
Unfortunately we'll probably never know the contents of the private letters Tony Blair wrote to Bush during the build up to this insane war in which he allegedly committed Britain to regime change.
What we do know is this:
Troops in Iraq - Total 115,000 U.S. troops as of November 30, 2009. All other nations have withdrawn their troops.
U.S. Troop Casualties - 4,374 US troops; 98% male. 91% non-officers; 82% active duty, 11% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 9% African-American, 11% Latino. 19% killed by non-hostile causes. 54% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 72% were from the US Army
Non-U.S. Troop Casualties - Total 316, with 179 from the UK
US Troops Wounded - 31,616 through September 30, 2009, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries. (Total excludes psychological injuries.)
US Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems - 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home
US Military Helicopters Downed in Iraq - 73 total, at least 36 by enemy fire
IRAQI TROOPS, CIVILIANS & OTHERS IN IRAQ
Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of US Army Troops - More than 180,000 in August 2007, per The Nation/LA Times.
Journalists killed - 140, 93 by murder and 47 by acts of war
Journalists killed by US Forces - 14
Iraqi Police and Soldiers Killed - 9,356
Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated - A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualties have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualities at over 600,000.
Iraqi Insurgents Killed, Roughly Estimated - 55,000
Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed - 569
Non-Iraqi Kidnapped - 306, including 57 killed, 147 released, 4 escaped, 6 rescued and 89 status unknown.
Daily Insurgent Attacks, Feb 2004 - 14
Daily Insurgent Attacks, July 2005 - 70
Daily Insurgent Attacks, May 2007 - 163
Estimated Insurgency Strength, Nov 2003 - 15,000
Estimated Insurgency Strength, Oct 2006 - 20,000 - 30,000
Estimated Insurgency Strength, June 2007 - 70,000
QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS
Iraqis Displaced Inside Iraq, by Iraq War, as of May 2007 - 2,255,000
Iraqi Refugees in Syria & Jordan - 2.1 million to 2.25 million
Iraqi Unemployment Rate - 27 to 60%, where curfew not in effect
Consumer Price Inflation in 2006 - 50%
Iraqi Children Suffering from Chronic Malnutrition - 28% in June 2007 (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
Percent of professionals who have left Iraq since 2003 - 40%
Iraqi Physicians Before 2003 Invasion - 34,000
Iraqi Physicians Who Have Left Iraq Since 2005 Invasion - 12,000
Iraqi Physicians Murdered Since 2003 Invasion - 2,000
Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 1 to 2 hours, per Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (Per Los Angeles Times, July 27, 2007)
Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 10.9 in May 2007
Average Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 5.6 in May 2007
Pre-War Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 16 to 24
Number of Iraqi Homes Connected to Sewer Systems - 37%
Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies - 70% (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
Water Treatment Plants Rehabilitated - 22%
RESULTS OF POLL Taken in Iraq in August 2005 by the British Ministry of Defense (Source: Brookings Institute)
Iraqis "strongly opposed to presence of coalition troops - 82%
Iraqis who believe Coalition forces are responsible for any improvement in security - less than 1%
Iraqis who feel less ecure because of the occupation - 67%
Iraqis who do not have confidence in multi-national forces - 72%
Here is the full text of the Resolution 1441: http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
Video of Goldsmith talking resolution 1441.
STATEMENT BY RUSSIA, CHINA AND FRANCE
Joint statement issued by Russia, China and France outlining their interpretation of UN of the resolution:
Resolution 1441 (2002) adopted today by the Security Council excludes any automaticity in the use of force. In this regard, we register with satisfaction the declarations of the representatives of the United States and the United Kingdom confirming this understanding in their explanations of vote, and assuring that the goal of the resolution is the full implementation of the existing Security Council resolutions on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction disarmament. All Security Council members share this goal.
In case of failure by Iraq to comply with its obligations, the provisions of paragraphs 4, 11 and 12 will apply. Such failure will be reported to the Security Council by the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC or the Director General of the IAEA. It will be then for the Council to take position on the basis of that report.
Therefore, this resolution fully respects the competences of the Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.