Iraq Inquiry: A farce in teh making

The Enquiry into the War in Iraq has officially started today. What a waste of time, money and effort this could end up being.

There is no way that the government will have put itself in a position where it could be held accountable for breaking international law by violating the territorial sovereignty of a fully recognised UN member state.

There is no way that it will allow itself to be held accountable for war crimes including the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians, the use of white phosphorous on civilian targets, torture, detention without trial etc.

Those who have directly caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilian and military lives and £billions in damage to property and infrastructure not to mention commerce and cultural heritage will not suffer for their abuse of power and lies told to initiate an unnecessary act of aggressive war and regime change without international and UN backing or agreement.

The present government will not even be in power when the enquiry concludes and those who do come under its scrutiny for any wrong doing will presumably be protected from any of its findings against them because they enjoy the privilege of constitutionally enshrined ministerial immunity.

Sir John Chilcot made a statement that sounds like the committee is going to be thorough, all encompassing and all appeasing yet tough and direct but I wonder how realistic that will be to actually achieve. He has also confirmed that some of the hearing will be in private for the sake of national security or the need for candour and one has to wonder how much of this will include any evidence from notorious Tony Blair.

If Blair is allowed to give all, most or any of his evidence behind closed doors then the enquiry in my opinion will fail in everything it hopes to achieve. Given the cost alone of this exercise this possibility cannot be allowed to happen and I hope that Sir John is not too ensconced within in the establishment to allow a travesty of this magnitude to happen in his name.

This is not the Iraq inquiry the nation wanted to see

William Hague has warned that the inquiry into the Iraq War announced today by Sir John Chilcot will not be the “the inquiry that the nation wanted to see”.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary condemned the “worrying new caveat” that sessions will be held in private not just when national security is concerned but also when there is a need for candour.

And he stressed, “If there are difficult truths to be told they should be told in the light of day, not behind closed doors. It would be unacceptable if sessions are held in private simply because Ministers or former Ministers, including Tony Blair, want to avoid embarrassment.”

William also said it was “disappointing” that the membership of the Inquiry still lacks cabinet or military experience:

“Drawing on outside military experts is not the same as having a heavyweight Committee member who has high level military experience. And it still remains the case that no one on the Inquiry has had experience of cabinet.”

He stressed, “Despite Sir John’s best efforts this is still not the Inquiry that the nation wanted to see, and it is a classic illustration of Gordon Brown’s lack of openness in Government that it has been announced too late to report before the General Election.”

Blair and Brown Must Not be Allowed to Escape Spotlight of Iraq Inquiry

Commenting on Sir John Chilcot’s announcement on the terms of reference for the Iraq war inquiry, Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats said:

“It is essential that this inquiry has the teeth it needs to get the job done. The Government must not be able to interfere to keep Blair and Brown out of the spotlight for the sake of political convenience in the run-up to an election. Tony Blair ordered this disastrous war and Gordon Brown signed the cheques - without public appearances from them this inquiry will be seen as a whitewash.

The inquiry must have access to high level legal advice, in particular a counsel to assist them in cross-questioning witnesses. This is important to ensure that as gifted a communicator as Blair is not allowed to slip off the hook. It is very disappointing that the chances of an interim report have been described as ‘unlikely’ - there is no reason that such a report could not be published before the election.

Sir John’s assurance that evidence will be held in public ‘wherever possible’ is welcome. But where evidence is given in private, a genuine national security interest must be proven in each case. There is a strong case for televising hearings so the public can see that proceedings are as open as possible.”

BLAIR AND BROWN MUST GIVE EVIDENCE IN PUBLIC

IRAQ INQUIRY WILL BE JUDGED ON ANSWERS AND LESSONS LEARNED

Commenting as the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war gets underway, SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson MP said the investigation would be judged on the answers that it provided and said the former and current prime ministers must give evidence in public.

The SNP have led demands for an inquiry into the Iraq war, and secured the first substantive debate at Westminster in October 2006 – at that time the vote calling for an inquiry was narrowly lost by just 25 votes – with 12 Labour rebels. It was backed by all Tories and Liberal Democrats.

Mr Robertson said:

“This inquiry will be judged on the answers that it provides and the lessons that are learned.

“Sir John Chilcot has a mountain to climb if he is to convince people that this an open and independent inquiry and not some establishment stitch-up with Downing Street pulling the strings.

“The whole point of an inquiry is to get to the truth about the Iraq war, and the conduct and conclusions of Sir John’s investigation must leave no doubt in peoples minds or questions unanswered. It is essential that both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown give their evidence to this inquiry in public.

“By every measurement the Iraq war has been the biggest foreign policy disaster in modern times, and those responsible for it have never answered the most fundamental questions about why we were led into this war.

“The claim that the war was about weapons of mass destruction was a blatant lie, a mere cover story unsupported by the facts, which has cost the lives of thousands of civilians and hundreds of our brave soldiers.”