War and Peace

A Bill Moyers Essay

December 11, 2009

"The Merchant of Death is Dead"

BILL MOYERS: Many people are perplexed that Barack Obama flew to Oslo this week to receive the Nobel Peace Prize so soon after escalating the war in Afghanistan. He's now doubled the number of troops that were there when George W. Bush left office. The irony was not lost on the president, and he tried to address it in his acceptance speech...Rest of Transcript

Red Cross assists landmine victims in Afghanistan

An Afghan man and a child with artificial legs are seen at the International Red Cross Orthopedic (ICRC) rehabilitation center on December 10, 2009 in Herat, Afghanistan. The aims of the ICRC rehabilitation center are to educate and rehabilitate landmine victims and others with deformities to help them return their former lives. According to the UN mine information network, 62 people on average are killed or injured by mines each month in Afghanistan. UPI/Hossein Fatemi

There are Thirteen More Photo's at the UPI site link with descriptions on the right hand side for each as you view them.

ICBL International Campaign to Ban Landmines

Landmine Survivors Network

Adopt-A-Minefield Landmine Clearance and Support

Historic Sites: Kent State

Kent State protest scene nominated as historic site

Guardsmen, in the background, walk off Blanket Hill at Kent State University as civilians come to the aid of one of the wounded after the shootings on May 4, 1970.

It's not unusual for a battlefield to be declared a historic site, but it's rare when the scene of a protest qualifies for that distinction.

But what happened at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, is indeed history.

Ohio officials want to recognize that by nominating 17 acres on campus to the National Register of Historic Places...>>>>>

Tony Blair: {UpDated}

Tony, like our own leaders?, have found their excuses and justifications, they sound an awful lot like those of the bin Ladens and Saddam's of this world!

"Iraq War was right even if there were no WMDs"

Tony Blair would have invaded Iraq even if he had known that there were no weapons of mass destruction in the country, he has admitted.

Mr Blair replied: "I would still have thought it right to remove him. I mean, obviously you would have had to use and deploy different arguments about the nature of the threat."

He added: "I can't really think we'd be better off with him and his two sons still in charge but it's incredibly difficult... and that's why I sympathise with the people who were against it for perfectly good reasons and are against it now but, for me, in the end I had to take the decision."

Snip

At a memorial service in St Paul's Cathedral in October to honour British military and civilian personnel who served in Iraq, Mr Blair offered his hand to Peter Brierley, whose son, Lance Corporal Shaun Brierley, was killed in 2003. Mr Brierley told him: "I'm not shaking your hand, you've got blood on it."

Asked if the anger of parents like Mr Brierley was "the cross you will always have to bear", Mr Blair said: "Let's be clear, it's worse for them. They have lost their child and it's very sad. If you have lost your loved one but you think you have lost them in a cause that's not worth it, that makes it worse."

Snip

Elsewhere in the interview, to be broadcast this Sunday, Mr Blair said his faith was central to his life and discussed his conversion to Catholicism in 2007, after leaving office. ..>>>>>

Blair feels all the Deaths, Tens of Thousands of Iraqi, Millions of Iraqi Refugee's, Destroyed Country and Sectarianism, 179 British Soldiers, 4370 and Counting U.S. Soldiers, and Total of 4688 Military Coalition Deaths, as well as the Tens of Thousands of Maimed, Physically and Mentally, Soldiers and Civilians was just Hon-key Dory to take down Saddam and Sons.

As well as being a part of the Human Rights Violations the U.S. was carrying out against not only our Laws but International Laws, of which we and the brits along with other countries wrote and enforced as we also condemn others who break them, on Torture and Rendition's, the Rendition's coming in some cases in the occupied theaters but also many from elsewhere.

UK accused of rendition over men arrested in Iraq

A legal rights charity has accused the government of misleading Parliament over two men arrested by the British military in Iraq.

Reprieve says British forces handed the men to the US military who then took them to Afghanistan in 2004.

It says one of them is a Shia rice trader and not part of a banned group linked to al-Qaeda, as ministers claim...>>>>>

Saddam, a dictator who was once good friends with as well as installed in power, with some western powers being involved! We did more to the Iraqi's then Saddam, and his hencemen, could have dreamed of and in only a few years time, And It Continues with the BlowBack on All, Especially the coming generations, there and World Wide, from not only Iraq but the Whole Region as it's caused major shifts and more hatreds!!

BBC Video cuts of the "Fern Britton Meets... Tony Blair" show to be shown on Sunday 13 December at 10am on BBC One.

Tony Blair on choice to remove Saddam Hussein
Tony Blair on choice to remove Saddam Hussein

And Blair talks about his Faith in his decision making
Tony Blair tells Fern Britton how faith influenced decisions

Where do they miss the obvious, when they speak like this, they sound just like those who we label as our enemies and terrorists!

It's 'righteous' to invade another, using as just one of many excuses of WMD's, weapons of mass destruction, as we use WMD's, weapons of mass destruction, to destroy and kill innocent human beings to silence one!

They and All who hide behind the twisted ideologies they've adapted and call Righteous Religious Beliefs, his Christianity, as they pick pieces of Bible Quotes in their justifications!

Sounds just like, well we know who or whom!!

Mission Accomplished!!

UpDate:

Calls for Prosecution for War Crimes!!

Blair Iraq war admission sparks fresh outrage

Tony Blair's admission that Britain would have backed the Iraq war even if he knew it did not have weapons of mass destruction (WMD) sparked outrage Sunday and calls for his prosecution for war crimes.

The former prime minister, who backed the US-led invasion in 2003, told the BBC it would "still have been right to remove" Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein because of the threat he posed to the region.

Lawyers representing the deposed Iraqi leadership said they would seek to prosecute Blair following his remarks, while one newspaper commentator said it was a "game-changing admission" for the ongoing official inquiry into the war.

Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix added: "The war was sold on the WMD, and now you feel, or hear that it was only a question of deployment of arguments, as he said, it sounds a bit like a fig leaf that was held up."...>>>>>

'National Guilt' Stirs Against Afghan War

In Germany

Germany has the third largest contingent of forces in Afghanistan, yet among a population still haunted by World War II a deep-rooted anti-war sentiment persists. Margaret Warner reports...Transcript found here

Afghan Landmine Victims

Red Cross assists landmine victims in Afghanistan

An Afghan man and a child with artificial legs are seen at the International Red Cross Orthopedic (ICRC) rehabilitation center on December 10, 2009 in Herat, Afghanistan. The aims of the ICRC rehabilitation center are to educate and rehabilitate landmine victims and others with deformities to help them return their former lives. According to the UN mine information network, 62 people on average are killed or injured by mines each month in Afghanistan. UPI/Hossein Fatemi

An Afghan child with only one leg sits next to artificial legs at the International Red Cross Orthopedic (ICRC) rehabilitation center
on December 10, 2009 in Herat, Afghanistan.

Mine-stricken Afghan girls with artificial legs practice walking at the International Red Cross Orthopedic (ICRC) rehabilitation center
on December 10, 2009 in Herat, Afghanistan.

Job Creation in Afghanistan

Afghan employees work on artificial legs at the International Red Cross Orthopedic (ICRC) rehabilitation center on December 10, 2009 in Herat, Afghanistan.

Afghan men with artificial legs wait for their doctor to check them at the International Red Cross Orthopedic (ICRC) rehabilitation center
on December 10, 2009 in Herat, Afghanistan.

There are Thirteen More Photo's at the UPI site link with descriptions on the right hand side for each as you view them.

ICBL International Campaign to Ban Landmines

Landmine Survivors Network

Adopt-A-Minefield Landmine Clearance and Support

Salon Investigation: Arlington National Cemetery

The online Salon site brings out another, the forth, report on a long time and well hidden problem at our Arlington Nation Cemetery:

Cremated remains dumped in Arlington landfill

A headstone stands at grave 5253. Cemetery records suggest workers found an unidentifiable urn in the cemetery's dirt landfill and buried it here.

More burial mix-ups unearthed at the troubled national cemetery

Records at Arlington National Cemetery suggest that workers found an urn of cremated remains that had been dumped -- presumably accidentally -- in a dirt landfill, reburied those remains as an unknown soldier, and kept the whole thing quiet.

With the publication of this article, Salon has now disclosed four separate cases in which the cemetery discovered unmarked remains due to burial glitches, mostly poor record-keeping. In a fifth case, the cemetery accidentally buried the remains of one service member on top of another in the same grave. Salon's reporting has led the Army to launch an investigation of record-keeping problems at the cemetery.

Gravestones simply marked "Unknown" are easy to find scattered throughout the sprawling acres of perfectly aligned headstones at Arlington. In addition to the famous Tomb of the Unknowns, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of unknown soldiers buried there, dating back to the Civil War...>>>>>

Cuts of the other reports follow under this one with links to read fully.

NATO's Dual-Track Decision

Thirtieth Anniversary of NATO's Dual-Track Decision

A U.S. Army photograph of the mobile Pershing II deployed in an unidentified woodlands location. (Photo from U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal Web site)

The Road to the Euromissiles Crisis and the End of the Cold War

Washington, D.C., December 10, 2009 - Thirty years ago, on 12 December 1979, NATO defense and foreign ministers made a landmark decision designed to unify the alliance, but which also contributed to the collapse of détente and helped provide an agenda for the end of the Cold War. On the anniversary of the NATO "dual-track" decision that linked deployments of U.S. long-range theater nuclear forces (LRTNF) to proposals for negotiations with Moscow over those and Soviet forces, the National Security Archive publishes for the first time a selection of declassified U.S. documents that record some of the key developments in the U.S. and NATO decision-making processes.

NATO leaders saw the "dual-track" decision as a response to Soviet long-range forces targeting Europe and as a way ultimately to roll them back, yet the Soviet leadership saw the NATO plan as a threatening escalation of the nuclear arms race. Indeed, some in Moscow saw the NATO decision as the "last drop" that made them feel they had nothing to lose by invading Afghanistan...>>>>>

Operation Free

We are packing our bags and heading east next week to join the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. A delegation of veterans from OpFree will be there to make sure the world understands the grave threat climate change poses to global security. We know that climate change makes the world a more dangerous place and that dependence on oil makes America vulnerable. That's why it's time for America to get on the team with the rest of the world and lead by example to combat this threat

We'll be livecasting our press events and updates from the conference.

To keep up to date on activities, sign up here for reminders to watch and/or listen to our broadcasts: "Live from Copenhagen with Operation Free."

Our veterans will bring personal stories and a front-lines perspective to the national security threat, a vital and oft-overlooked aspect of the ongoing negotiations. Most of the veterans served during the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We hope you'll join us in Denmark.

Thanks for all you do,

Operation Free

Jon Powers

Iraq War Inquiry, Day 12

First a few commentaries as this Inquiry moves along and the information and charges drip, drip, drip..............out.

Iraq-Afghanistan-Afghanistan-Iraq............

Leader: Our craven calculations in Iraq must not infect Afghanistan

The Iraq war was a ruinous mistake. The lessons from it have not yet been learned.

Two hundred and thirty-seven British troops have died in Afghanistan since the start of the war in 2001 - but the name of Lance Corporal Adam Drane should never be forgotten. The 23-year-old soldier from the 1st Battalion the Royal AnglianRegiment became the 100th UK casualty this year when he was shot dead near Nad e-Ali on 7 December. It is the first time that 100 or more British soldiers have been killed in a single year since the Falklands conflict in 1982, when 255 servicemen died and, as Sir David Richards, the British army chief, has acknowledged, it reopens the debate as to whether "the sacrifice of another British soldier is worth it". The sacrifices are not over. The number of the British dead will continue to rise. We have argued that the Afghan conflict, though its origins may have been just and necessary in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks, has since become unwinnable and counterproductive, and the government should set a date for a strategic withdrawal...>>>>>

The biggest mistake was already made as to Afghanistan by leaving to Invade Iraq and not securing and funding the needs of the Afghans as to the promises to rebuild after the fall of the Taliban! It stopped being about 9/11 at that moment in history and isn't about now, making the keeping of the promises much more difficult and more important now as to the future security everywhere!!

Iraq: the crime of the century

The purpose of the Chilcot inquiry is to normalise an epic crime by providing enough of a theatre of guilt to satisfy the media.

He came to mind when I saw a picture in the paper of another Foreign Office official, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who was Tony Blair's ambassador to the United Nations in the build-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It was Sir Jeremy, more than anyone else, who tried every trick to find a UN cover for the bloodbath to come. Indeed, this was his boast on 27 November to the Chilcot inquiry, where he described the invasion as "legal but of questionable legitimacy". How clever. In the picture he wore a smirk.

Under international law, "questionable legitimacy" does not exist. An attack on a sovereign state is a crime. This was made clear by Britain's chief law officer and attorney general, Peter Goldsmith, before his arm was twisted, and by the Foreign Office's own legal advisers, and subsequently by the UN secretary general. The invasion of Iraq is the crime of the 21st century. During 17 years of assault on a defenceless civilian population, veiled with weasel monikers such as "sanctions" and "no-fly zones" and "building democracy", more people have died in Iraq than at the height of the slave trade. Set that against Sir Jeremy's skin-­saving revisionism about American "noises" that were "decidedly unhelpful to what I was trying to do [at the UN] in New York". Moreover, "I myself warned the Foreign Office . . . that I might have to consider my own position . . ."

It wasn't me, guv...>>>>>

BBC Iraq inquiry - day by day timeline of evidence given

A UK inquiry into the 2003 Iraq war is looking at the run-up to conflict, whether troops were properly prepared, how the war was conducted and what planning there was for its aftermath. Here are the key players and a timeline of all the evidence:...>>>>>

This Sir John Sawers, who now heads the British M16, speaking as a part of Blairs team, talked about what was going on as to any Regime Change talk but not yet, supposedly, reaching any talk of taking saddam down Militarily. He mentioned the sanctions and taking with the Russians and others. But he also mentioned the reaching out to ex Iraqi pats who opposed the Saddam regime, reason they were not living in Iraq and hadn't for many years, not once did I hear him say anything about any talks with opposition leaders or people living Inside of Iraq not only then but for the years previous.

US in 2001 'did not discuss military invasion of Iraq'

Tony Blair's ex-foreign policy adviser Sir John Sawers said the US was not talking about war with Iraq in early 2001. Sir John, the current head of MI6, visited Washington in January that year for informal talks with the incoming Bush administration. George W Bush and the then UK prime minister held their first meeting at Camp David in the February. There was agreement that their policy of "containment" of Iraq through sanctions and no-fly zones was "unsustainable", Sir John said. And while there was talk of "regime change", there was no discussion of military intervention...>>>>>

As the drip, drip, drip, of information slowly falls so does the name dropping and not so supportive descriptions of those who's names come forth. Today, once again, Bremers name comes up often but also add now Ret. Gen Jay Garner, he like Bremer apparently didn't make to many friends working with their counterparts, frankly this is the total opposite of what we were taught in CI/SERE before being sent into 'Nam, but then again they weren't working with Iraqi's they were working with American appointee's brought in to do the bidding of the administration and pentagon with the decisions coming from Washington and the Military in Central Command Florida.

Sir John Sawers tells Chilcot inquiry US ignored warnings on Baath sackings

Sir John Sawers gives evidence to the Chilcot inquiry

Tony Blair’s senior diplomat in Baghdad was ignored when he urged the Americans not to sack 25,000 Baathist officials, the Iraq inquiry was told today.

Sir John Sawers, now the head of MI6, revealed the chaos he saw in post-invasion Iraq on his arrival in the capital in early May 2003.

He said that the de-Baathification programme and the disbandment of the Iraqi Army, which many critics claim triggered the Sunni insurgency, had been agreed in Washington — apparently without prior consultation with Britain, America’s principal ally in the war against Saddam Hussein.

Sir John said that the Government had supported plans to remove the top three tiers of the Baathist regime — a total of 5,000 officials — but not the 25,000 lower-grade Iraqis on the fourth tier of the regime, many of whom were teachers.

Snip

At that stage a retired US general, Jay Garner, was in charge of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. Sir Roderic described it as a “shambles”.

“I was very disappointed by the quality of the senior figures who were mainly retired Vietnam-era US generals,” Sir John said.

He found himself having to sleep in a dormitory with a lot of other people. “There were no doors to the bathrooms. There was intermittent water and electricity, it was pretty grim,” he said...>>>>>

MI6 boss: US military's 'Darth Vadar kit and wraparound shades' alienated Iraqi locals after invasion

U.S. Army soldiers from 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry on patrol near Baghdad. Their ;Darth Vadar; kit and sunglasses have been criticised in the Iraq inquiry today

The head of MI6 today attacked the US's use of 'Vietnam-era generals' and 'Darth Vader kit' for turning post-war Iraq into a shambles.

Sir John Sawers, who took over as spymaster 'C' last month, said the wraparound sunglasses and flak jackets used by rank-and-file American soldiers only served to distance themselves from the Iraqis.

Sir John also revealed he found 'serious disorder' when he was sent to Baghdad as the UK's special representative in 2003.

He told the Chilcot inquiry that the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Affairs (ORHA) was not well led by Jay Garner, a retired US Lieutenant General...>>>>>

Britain cut out of key decisons on Iraq says MI6 chief

The United States made key decisions about the future of Iraq without consulting Britain, the chief of MI6 has said.

Sir John Sawers, a former foreign policy adviser to Tony Blair who is now the head of Secret Intelligence Service, was drafted in as Britain’s Special Representative to Iraq with less than a week to prepare.

He said Jack Straw, then Foreign Secretary, had decided he wanted “someone senior” on the ground who could “impose some common sense.”

Snip

“In retrospect, it seems that principal decisions were taken in advance in Washington,” Sir John told the inquiry.

Asked if there had been a “stitch up in Washington” over the Ba’ath party he said: “When I was doing calls in London the previous week, it was not an issue that had been raised with me.”

Sir John told the inquiry that in 2001 Iraq was just one of the countries where Britain hoped to see regime change.

He said when he was Tony Blair's private secretary for foreign affairs, discussions took place on political actions which could help undermine Saddam Hussein’s regime short of military action...>>>>>

Iraq inquiry hears Washington called the shots on postwar government

MI6 chief says key decisions including banning Saddam's Ba'ath party from new regime 'were taken in advance in Washington'

Washington made the key decisions on Iraq's new administrative and military structures in the weeks after the 2003 invasion, the Iraq inquiry was told today.

Sir John Sawers, Britain's special representative in Baghdad in the aftermath of Saddam's fall and now head of MI6, initially said he could not say there was a "stitch-up" over the banning of top members of the dictator's Ba'ath party from the replacement regime.

But despite this cautious response to a question from inquiry panel member Sir Roderic Lyne, he later said: "In retrospect it seems the principal decisions were taken in advance in Washington."

Snip

The then head of the British army, General Sir Mike Jackson, had suggested a battalion of British paratroops be sent to the capital to help. "Part of the problem was the posture of the US army in their tanks, in their Darth Vader kit with the wraparound sunglases and helmets and flak jackets and everything else. There was no real rapport between the US army and the ordinary citizens."

Senior military advisers in London eventually vetoed the idea. "Unfortunately the idea had gained some traction with the Americans both in Washington and Baghdad … in a sense we marched them up to the top of the hill and then marched them down again."

He had been "pretty shocked" by Britain's small contribution of staff to running Iraq when he arrived in Baghdad...>>>>>

US did not involve Britain in crucial Iraq decisions, Chilcot inquiry told

MI6 chief and former Blair adviser Sir John Sawers says British military commanders were furious at lack of consultation

Britain was not consulted about crucial decisions on Iraq, despite hopes that by contributing so many troops to the invasion it would be able to influence US policy, the Chilcot inquiry heard today.

Sir John Sawers, the recently appointed head of MI6 but then a close adviser to Tony Blair, made it clear that the decisions to disband the Iraqi army and dismiss thousands of members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party were taken by the US alone. Britain's military commanders, with 46,000 troops taking part in the invasion, were furious about the decisions...>>>>>

While condemning being left out of the decision making Sir John does talk extensively on the de-Baathification and how deep down it went, teachers, doctors etc. etc., along with the Iraqi military and tries to put a good spin of the need to do so on the whole policy, carrying the Blare bucket of water like a good soldier.

Watch the Inquiry Live when in Session

Written Transcripts by Date

Oral: The Video's by Date

See how the Inquiry is unfolding on the Sky News Timeline

Iraq War Inquiry, Day 11

Today the British Military goes after the civilian government ministers sent in or making decisions after the invasion to try and apparently bring order to chaos building another government or to keep the country functioning so it wouldn't completely fall into an Insurgency, I mean after all the U.S. expected throngs of people throwing flowers and kisses. Oh ya, even Bremer is mentioned, he apparently isn't to great in the social circles, or war theaters, as to making friends with his counterparts.

Iraq details for aid workers 'were scanty before war'

UK aid officials had "scanty" evidence of the situation in Iraq in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion, a senior civil servant has said.

Sir Suma Chakrabarti, ex-Department for International Development permanent secretary, said contact with UN staff had been banned until October 2002.

This restriction had been put in place to avoid revealing that military action was possible, he told the Iraq Inquiry.

This meant most knowledge was "desktop information" only, he said.

The UK had no diplomatic relations with Saddam Hussein's Iraq for 12 years leading up the invasion...>>>>>

General: Amateurs ran post-conflict Iraq

Inexperienced officials were put in charge of post-conflict reconstruction in Iraq at the expense of lives and treasure, a London war inquiry heard.

British Lt. Gen. Federick Viggers, the top British military
representative in Iraq in 2003, told a London inquiry into the Iraq war on Wednesday that British planners were not prepared for the swift overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime, London's Telegraph newspaper reports.

"That was a stunning military operation but in so doing it took everyone by surprise," he said. "We suffered from a lack of any real understanding of the state of that country post-invasion."..>>>>>

Hmmm, amateurs sent in by Blair and his company, they probably felt right at home with the American ones, like the ones coming out of the administration contacts as well as the political party connections. Or how about all those civilian contractors, sans the mercs I would hope, seeking those six figure salaries to do jobs for the military personnel, or instead of, as well as drivers etc. who probably never served in a combat theater much less an occupation quickly evolving into the expected insurgency, now thems amateurs, and like the Lt Gen below says "lives had been lost as a result"!

Army chief lambasts 'amateurs' in post-invasion Iraq

A senior official has told the inquiry into the Iraq war that "amateurs" who did not have the experience to perform were put into key roles in the country.

Lt Gen Frederick Viggers, Britain's senior military representative in Iraq, said lives had been lost as a result.

He said senior officials, including ministers, needed more training to deal with the complexities involved in mounting an invasion.

The inquiry is examining UK policy towards Iraq between 2001 and 2009.

The first few weeks have focused on policy in the run-up to the war, the UK's assessment of Iraq's weapons capacity, military preparations for the invasion and post-war planning.

'Huge responsibility'...>>>>>

Iraq Inquiry: 'amateur' ministers to blame for soldier deaths in Afghanistan

Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Viggers Photo: MOLLY BINGHAM / WPN

British soldiers are dying in Afghanistan because of decisions made by "amateurs" in the Government, Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Viggers, one of the Army's most senior officers, has told the Iraq Inquiry.

Lt Gen Viggers, who was the senior British military representative in Iraq from May to September 2003, said ministers had learned nothing from their experience of the Iraq war and are "not living up to the responsibility" placed on them.

He launched into his astonishing attack on the Government when he was asked whether he felt ministers and senior civil servants should have training in military strategy before taking up key positions.

Complaining that the job of post-war reconstruction in Iraq had suffered from a "lack of a sense of direction from the outset", He said: "We have not really progressed at the strategic level. I am not talking about the soldiers and commanders and civilians...who did a great job...>>>>>

Iraq Inquiry: war officials were 'amateurs'

Britain's top military representative in Iraq at the time tells the Iraq Inquiry that amateurs were put into top planning jobs in post-invasion Iraq, costing peoples' lives as a result. Alex Thomson reports...>>>>>

General: British troops killed by amateurism

Sir Frederick Viggers led British forces in Iraq in 2003

Lack of expertise at the top had fatal consequences in Iraq, inquiry told

British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan because of the "amateur" handling of the operation by the Government, one of Britain's most senior military officials has said.

Lt-General Sir Frederick Viggers, who led British forces in Iraq in 2003, said that lessons had not been learnt from the mistakes made during that campaign, which had suffered from a "lack of a sense of direction from the outset".

He told the Chilcot Iraq inquiry that problems in the planning of military action, such as that currently being carried out in Helmand province, Afghanistan, persisted because those at the top of Government did not have the necessary expertise. "We have not really progressed at the strategic level," Sir Frederick said. "I am not talking about the soldiers and commanders and civilians... who did a great job...>>>>>

Amateurs, from the cheney/bush administration and rubber stamping republican party, sent into a War Theater, surprised?, Well Duh Yaaaa, just think of the Justice Department, Torture, Stepping All Over Our Constitution, Ignoring Ours and International Law {we helped write}, Hurricane Katrina, Walter Reed, Army Barracks, lowering of standards as to recruitment, raising the age for recruits, stop loss and we can go on and on right up till they left, but as to these theaters just look at Afghanistan today or even Iraq, we're still in both and though Iraq isn't as destructive as it was our soldiers are still there and dying, the only ones from the coalition of the willing, and deaths of hundreds of Iraqi's, by bombings, are still happening!

UK military chief told 'when not if' over Iraq invasion

UK troops encountered less opposition than expected, the generals said

The man who led UK troops into Iraq in 2003 says he was told 10 months earlier that it was a matter of "when not if" the US would pursue military action.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge said General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces, told him in May 2002 that he hoped the UK would be "alongside".

He told the Iraq inquiry the campaign was conducted to minimise the impact on Iraqi civilians and key infrastructure.

The inquiry is examining UK policy towards Iraq between 2001 and 2009...>>>>>

INQUIRY TIMELINE

November-December: Former top civil servants, spy chiefs, diplomats and military commanders to give evidence

January-February 2010: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and other politicians expected to appear before the panel

March 2010: Inquiry expected to adjourn ahead of the general election campaign

July-August 2010: Inquiry expected to resume

Report set to be published in late 2010 or early 2011

And now some are having second thoughts, looking for absolution,probably, but way too many have died, way too many enemies have been created and the world has become much more dangerous because of!!

John Prescott on Iraq war: how did I go along with it?

John Prescott: 'I do wonder, looking back now ... how did I then go along [with it]?' Photograph: Dan Chung

Former deputy prime minister admits asking himself how he was persuaded to back British involvement in the Iraq war

John Prescott has admitted he wonders how he agreed to go along with Britain's participation in the war in Iraq.

In an interview to be published tomorrow in the New Statesman the former deputy prime minister says: "I do wonder, looking back now, having the privilege of discussing with Tony [Blair] about all this: how did I then go along [with it]?"

Prescott also acknowledges that Lord Goldsmith – the attorney general at the time – was troubled by the war.

"If you say, 'Was Goldsmith a happy man about this?' No, he wasn't," Prescott says, adding: "That's quite different from saying, 'No, I'm sorry, my view is that it's illegal, I'm not supporting it.'"

Goldsmith's advice to the government that the war was legal remains controversial and his views have been discussed at the current Chilcot inquiry...>>>>>

Analysis: Inquiries are academic to Baghdad's people, under attack yet again

IN THE smoke, dust and screams of multiple Baghdad street bombings, and in the hushed intent of the Chilcot Inquiry hearings, the disparate, distasteful strands of the Iraq conflict's planning and aftermath were brought the fore once again.
Even as Sir John Scarlett pushed himself a little further from the "dodgy dossier", the people of Baghdad were focused on a rather more immediate question – who was visiting this violence upon them once again?

The sectarian and ethnic fault lines that the invasion caused to shift so violently are still there. The distrust between the Sunni Muslims who controlled Iraq under Saddam Hussein and the majority Shia, who now dominate, persists. The previously persecuted Kurds in the north, sitting on massive oil deposits, still have aspirations towards self-government...>>>>>

Was Taxi Driver Source for Key Saddam WMD Claim?

It sounds like a bad joke but it may be a true story: one of the most sensational claims made by the British government in the run-up to the Iraq War about Saddam Hussein’s supposed weapons of mass destruction may have come from an Iraqi taxi driver based on a conversation he overheard from passengers in his backseat two years earlier.

That’s what happened, according to Adam Holloway, a conservative member of Parliament reputed to have “close links” to intelligence officials, in a paper published this week. The claim raises new questions about the origins of pre-Iraq war intelligence at a sensitive time for the British government. An official United Kingdom tribunal is currently examining how and why former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government chose to join the invasion of Iraq...>>>>>

This below sounds interesting, it comes from the second link directly above. Alright all you cheney cabalers raise your hands, who's willing to come clean? Just think you don't have to worry about being prosecuted here nobody seems interested about All those New Enemies we've created, especially among the young, who will now be around for the next couple of decades. So at least you can clear your concious, even though, as to Iraq, you're no better then Saddams henchmen, that's how you'll be thought of not only in Iraq but the region. And we Americans, well for many, especially the kids who have and are now growing up in the devestated countries and especially who've had family and friends killed and maimed, well they're not going to be any to friendly towards us nor our policies!

British Iraq Inquiry Likely to Seek Testimony from U.S. Witnesses

A U.K. government inquiry investigating Britain's involvement in the Iraq War may want to take testimony from U.S. citizens, a British government official has confirmed to NEWSWEEK. The U.K. investigation, which began public hearings late last month, is examining why the British government decided to participate in the operation to oust Saddam Hussein...>>>>>

WWII Vet WINS!!!

Ahhhh, The Power of Informing others who than inform others............................ in this day and age!!! The WWII Veteran Won Against His, super patriotic?, Neighbors!

War Hero Can Keep His Flagpole

Col. Van T. Barfoot raises the flag Dec. 2 at his home near Richmond, Va.

A 90-year-old Medal of Honor winner can keep his 21-foot flagpole in his front yard after a homeowners association dropped its request to remove it, a spokesman for Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday.

The Sussex Square homeowners association likewise has agreed to drop threats to take legal action against retired Army Col. Van T. Barfoot, Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said...>>>>>

Iraq War Inquiry, Day 10

You apparently also go to War with the leaders you have!!

You'll see what I mean, below.

This is some of what happened on day ten of the Inquiry with a few reports and commentary coming out because of the Inquiry.

Family of murdered British hostage ‘betrayed’ by Chilcot inquiry

The family of the murdered British aid worker Margaret Hassan said that they have been “betrayed” by the official inquiry into the Iraq war after it spent just three minutes yesterday discussing her kidnapping.

Snip

“We came to find out the truth, even though we were skeptical, because we were told this would not be a cover-up. We have been betrayed.

“The authorities did not do one thing to help her when she was kidnapped and they are now doing nothing to find out why. As for Ken Bigley, it was almost as if he didn’t matter at all. He was an innocent man who was murdered for no reason.”

Snip

The criticism follows allegations last week that Gordon Brown was engineering a new cover-up of the Iraq war by handing Whitehall departments the right to block the inquiry from releasing secret documents about the war.

Mrs Hassan, 59, known as the Mother Teresa of Baghdad for her work with the poor, had lived in Iraq for 30 years and was the country director for the aid agency CARE International when she was kidnapped in October 2004. She was killed the following month but her remains have still not been recovered.

Mr Bigley, 62, a civil engineer from Liverpool, was kidnapped in Baghdad in September 2004 and held captive for four weeks before his murder. A video of his beheading was later released...>>>>>

Inquiry Highlights Divisions Between US, Britain on Iraq

Senior British officials questioned in wide-ranging inquiry on Britain's role in Iraq war

Witnesses in the second week of Britain's wide ranging inquiry into the Iraq war have revealed differences between the United States and Britain in the days running up to the war. The head of Britain's military say he was only given authority to plan for the war at a late stage.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's top political advisor in 2002 was David Manning. He told the Inquiry panel here in London Friday that Mr. Blair made a decision in the spring of 2002 that Britain would stand by America. "He expected to be with the United States until the end," Manning said. "But this would only be possible if the United Nations were the channel to get to the end."

Manning says Mr. Blair began to ask for military options in June 2002, nine months before the war got underway...>>>>>

From Day 9 Testimony


The Iraq Inquiry
Sky News: See how the Inquiry is unfolding on the Sky News Timeline

Was Iraqi cabbie the source of the dodgy dossier?
MP's report claims 'intelligence' on Saddam's WMDs came from back of a taxi

Dodgy dossier: The controversial Government report that stated a case for war

Gossip from an Iraqi taxi driver was a key source for Tony Blair's 'dodgy dossier'.

A report by a respected MP claims that the unlikely secret agent was one of MI6's top sources when it was building a case to justify the invasion.

He provided the information that Saddam Hussein could fire chemical weapons at British targets within 45 minutes.

Snip

Intelligence from the cab driver allegedly bolstered the suggestion that weapons of mass destruction could be fired at British targets in Cyprus - a central plank of the dodgy dossier.

Mr Holloway's report says that analysts at the Secret Intelligence Service quickly decided the cab driver's information about missiles was 'verifiably' false and warned that the agent was not reliable.

But a carefully-worded footnote in an MI6 report was apparently brushed aside by Downing Street officials when the dodgy dossier was put together in September 2002.

Snip

Sir John Scarlett, the former MI6 chief who was chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee before the war, is expected to be quizzed about the dossier when he gives evidence to the Chilcot committee today - though he is not expected to go into details about MI6 sources in public...>>>>>

Taxi driver X So why exactly did we go to war again?

An Iraqi taxi driver loads up his vehicle Photograph: JEROME DELAY/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Age: Unknown.

Appearance: Brief but crucial.

Ah, I think I know that guy. It was only a five-minute trip home but he kept insisting he "knew a short cut" and drove me around a roundabout for nearly an hour. No, I'm talking about the Iraqi taxi driver who was the source of the 45-minute WMD claim.

I had to pay him £60. No, listen, that was someone else.

Oh. Who's this guy then? Possibly the most important taxi driver in the history of the world. According to Conservative MP Adam Holloway, the famous claim that the Iraqi military was capable of deploying "chemical or biological weapons within 45 minutes of being ordered to do so" was overheard from a pair of military officers by an Iraqi taxi driver...>>>>>

Well isn't it a true fact that if one wants to know what's really going on damn the expensive technology toys, Ask A Cabby!



Iraq WMD claims not manipulated: ex-U.K. spy chief

British intelligence officials did not intend to mislead anyone by releasing documents in 2002 claiming Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, Britain's former spy chief said Tuesday.

John Scarlett, chair of the joint intelligence committee during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and later head of Britain's, Secret Intelligence Service (known as MI6), was testifying before an ongoing inquiry into the U.K.'s role in the invasion.

He told the inquiry he was not pressured into exaggerating information that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that could be deployed in under an hour, according to the Guardian newspaper.

Earlier Tuesday, a British opposition MP released a reporting suggesting British intelligence acquired that particular information from "an émigré taxi driver on the Iraqi-Jordanian border" and that it was unreliable.

Snip

After the dossier was published on Sept. 24, 2002, several British newspapers included the claim in their stories. London's Evening Standard headline read: "45 minutes from attack" while the Sun carried the headline: "Brits 45 mins from doom."

Britain joined the invasion of Iraq six months later.

Scarlett told the inquiry that WMD in this document did not refer to ballistic missiles and that the matter "would not have been lost in translation" if they had used the term "munitions" rather than "weapons."...>>>>>

Scarlett hangs Blair out to dry

Sir John Scarlett giving evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the war in Iraq today. Photograph: PA

Sir John Scarlett's evidence at the Chilcot inquiry must mean Tony Blair can no longer hide behind the intelligence services

Former spy chief Sir John Scarlett hung Tony Blair out to dry this afternoon. He drove a mobile weapons lab through Blair's longstanding excuse on Iraq – that his false claim that intelligence had "established beyond doubt" that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was cleared by the intelligence experts. What they seem to have said at the time was that if Blair wanted to make such an assertion, he should not pin it on them. Now Scarlett has – very late in the day – said the same.

In the short time they gave themselves, the Iraq inquiry committee made a pretty good job of putting Scarlett on the spot about the September 2002 Iraq dossier. They asked him some tough questions. He dodged some of them, claimed a faulty memory from time to time, but he said enough to put the blame on Blair...>>>>>

Spy Chief: We Knew Iraq Dismantled Weapons

The UK knew Iraq had dismantled its long-range missile before the war, an intelligence chief has told an official inquiry into the invasion.



Sir John Scarlett, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee when the conflict began, said Iraq had taken apart a weapon capable of reaching Israel by 2003.

A weapon with that reach could have posed a threat to British military bases in Cyprus.

To reassemble it would have taken one or two days, he told the public hearing.

Sir John, who went on to head MI6, was responsible for the September 2002 report which became popularly known as the "dodgy dossier".....>>>>>

U.K. believed Iraq dismantled weapons

Britain believed Iraq had dismantled its chemical and biological weapons in the run-up to the 2003 invasion but thought it was possible they could be reassembled, the former head of the country's Joint Intelligence Committee said Tuesday.

John Scarlett, who chaired the committee from 2001 to 2004 before moving to MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence agency, told a panel of inquiry that it had long been believed that Iraq had been dismantling weapons in order to conceal them.

On March 7, 2003, Scarlett said an intelligence report revealed that "Iraq had no missiles which could reach Israel and none which could carry germ or biological weapons. The leadership had ordered the dismantlement of the missiles known as al-Hussein ... to avoid discovery, and they thought they could be quickly reassembled."...>>>>>

Blair was warned to expect Iraq disorder

A top intelligence adviser warned Tony Blair to expect “serious disorder”, revenge attacks and a potentially hostile reception from Iraqis in the event of military action to topple Saddam Hussein, the Iraq inquiry heard on Tuesday.

Sir John Scarlett, former chairman of the joint intelligence committee, said he delivered a “blunt” assessment of the political aftermath of regime change less than three months before the outbreak of war.

Yet in spite of these concerns, other senior Whitehall officials revealed on Tuesday that there were no detailed preparations to administer southern Iraq before the UK embarked on the five-year task...>>>>>

Blair 'did not respond to crucial intelligence reports'

Tony Blair received two secret intelligence reports saying that Saddam Hussein did not have working weapons of mass destruction just days before ordering the invasion of Iraq.

Sir John Scarlett, the former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, told the official inquiry into the war today that the Prime Minister did not respond to the reports, which had crucial military significance.

He also distanced himself from Mr Blair’s claim six months before the invasion that “intelligence had established beyond doubt” that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD)....>>>>>

Open up the Iraq war inquiry

I published my submissions to the Hutton and Butler hearings in a spirit of openness that I feel is lacking in the Chilcot inquiry

I have published all my witness submissions to the Hutton inquiry and Butler review on the Iraq Inquiry Digest website to add to public understanding of the two issues on which I feel best qualified to comment: weapons of mass destruction and intelligence analysis. These are complicated matters, and there is a risk that the Chilcot inquiry will miss significant facts.

So far the inquiry has provided precious little documentary evidence as background to its hearings. It is not clear whether this is the inquiry's decision or a consequence of the protocols imposed by the government. However, the result is that there is uncertainty about the sources the inquiry is using and the assumptions it may be making about their evidence...>>>>>

And the following has been rising up as these testimonies have gone into this second week, especially being called for another investigation the last couple of days.

UK doctors say David Kelly did not commit suicide

The fact that Britain is once again investigating its role in the Iraq blunder is praiseworthy.

The previous Hutton and Butler inquiries were disappointing to put it mildly. Perhaps because they were undertaken at a time when the British establishment was still on the defensive and when preserving the reputation of the prime minister took precedence over exhuming the truth. Or, alternatively, because they took place when British troops were still in theater when damaging revelations could have seriously affected morale and/or relations with Britain’s Washington ally...>>>>>

Home for Christmas before Afghanistan!!! {UPDATED}

UpDate: It was announced that they've gotten their goal of the $35,000 needed and will be traveling home for Christmas before shipping out to Afghanistan!!!

These soldiers are coming from pretty high unemployment number counties in South Carolina. Why they're training in Wisconsin only the military can give that answer, what with all the bases in North Carolina and South Carolina you'd think they's have had regional training spots closer to home. This is also probably hitting other units in other parts of the country as well.

Christmas homecoming in jeopardy for Fort Mill soldiers

More than $35,000 must be raised to get guardsmen home before leaving for Afghanistan

But if wives and mothers like them can't raise at least $35,000, their men might not get home for Christmas before leaving for Afghanistan.

Snip

Guardsmen have dealt with similar situations in past deployments.

Under federal military guidelines, neither the S.C. National Guard nor the Army can pay for transportation for the soldiers on leave, said Lt. Col. Pete Brooks, spokesman for the guard. The government can pay for leave after deployment — such as travel home from the war zone — but not before the soldiers are actually deployed overseas.

Snip

The Fort Mill unit as a whole went to Iraq in 2003-04 and many went to Afghanistan in 2007-08. Many in the unit are readying for their second or even third deployment in the past six years to an Afghanistan war zone that is the most dangerous it has ever been.

Bonnie Hoagland, with a husband and two sons in the unit, said the system needs to be changed to allow the federal government to cover travel costs after the soldiers leave home before deployment.

“I don't know any families right now — at this time of year, in this economy — who have that kind of money to come home,” Hoagland said.

Snip

Want to Help?

To donate to the Fort Mill National Guard unit's return home for Christmas, contact:

Wanda Bennett with the Family Readiness Group at 803-519-6292

The Rock Hill National Guard Armory, Family Readiness Group, 126 Airport Road, Rock Hill, S.C., 29730.

The National Guard Association of South Carolina, 132 Pickens St., Columbia, S.C. 29205; 803-254-8456 or National Guard Association of South Carolina...>>>>>

In searching for the news video of the above story, couldn't find it yet at the local station I caught it on, I found another from early last month about North Carolina's Operation Home Front

Operation Homefront helps military families during holidays



The article link gives you what's said in the video if you can view that.

Word is like many groups that seek donations for a whole host of issues many helping the Soldiers, Families and Veterans are hurting as well. These shouldn't be having any problems, but it comes down to the citizens of this country and will cheer on these Wars then Occupations of Choice but if called upon to Sacrifice Themselves they go all 'teabag' meme's with waving "Don't Tread On Me" flags and packin loaded guns in large gatherings with children around!!

If the Military called for funding all these, outside of the Bloated Defense Budgets that no one complains about, these same types and like minded would be screamin foul just like they will in false outrage that soldiers and families of need to resort to asking for donations to have time with their families before going off to the long running occupation of others!!

You may want to find out if your state or locale have similar programs and if they too are struggling with funding.

Postage and Other Economic Outrages Against Soldiers

Letters, never a letter

I get no letters in the mail

I've been forgotten, yes, forgotten

Now I'm a soldier, a lonely soldier

Away from home through no wish of my own

-Bobby Vinton

I recently found that families of military people pay regular postage and shipping costs when they mail packages to soldiers in a war zone.

America ships soldiers off to Afghanistan and Iraq for free. If you come back in a body bag, they ship that back for free, too.

However, we make families who send soldiers socks, food and underwear pay shipping costs.

In a world where we spend billions to bail out Wall Street bankers and run trillion dollar government deficits, our government makes the families of soldiers pony up for postage.

That's not right...>>>>>

Iraq War Inquiry, Day Nine

Drip, drip, drip, ""He recalled noting that: "the dog didn't bark - it grizzled." Don't forget - this 'grizzling' for regime change was 6 months BEFORE 9/11."". drip, drip, drip, ""But there was a 'sea change' in attitude after the atrocities, with former national security adviser Condoleezza Rice targeting Iraq on the very day of the outrage."", drip, drip, drip, ""George Bush tried to make a connection between Iraq and al-Qaida in a conversation with Tony Blair three days after the 9/11 attacks, according to Blair's foreign policy adviser of the time."", drip, drip, drip, ""There was "a touching belief [in Washington] that we shouldn't worry so much about the aftermath because it was all going to be sweetness and light"."", drip, drip, drip, ""Boyce mentions the "dysfunctionalism" of Washington. He says that he would find himself briefing his American counterparts on what was happening in different parts of the US adminstration. Rumsfeld was not sharing information"", drip, drip, drip...........!

Written Transcripts by Date of each session.

The Video's of the Daily Testimony.

Trickle down information, while slow and coming in bits and pieces, does come quicker then economic trickle down capitalism.

Keep in mind as you come across the time lines in this Inquiry who was responsible for the 9/11 criminal terrorist attacks on this country,

Senate Report Revisits Osama bin Laden's Great Escape

Less than a month after the 9/11 attacks, the military began bombing al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan. It was the start of a campaign orchestrated by the CIA and Special Forces troops that quickly ousted the ruling Taliban from power but led to an insurgency that continues today...>>>>>

and what the then president bush stated a few years into both and close to leaving office, about "not thinking about bin Laden much anymore!", which they really had already started to do on 9/11 and after! That should give to one the simple reason why we're still sending Ours and NATO troops into Afghanistan and still fighting a growing Insurgency and the Afghans have seen little in Actually helping them rebuild their country after decades of destructive war by Foreign Occupiers!

You can Watch the Inquiry Live when in Session

And we "Drip" into day nine with other information from the weekend:

As the British Iraq war Inquiry moves ahead, day eight was friday, new calls for investigations of issues related to the Iraq buildup and questions of the reasons given for invading are heating up!

Call for inquest into 'suicide' question

Six British doctors have begun legal action for a new coroner's inquest into the controversial death of U.N. weapons inspector David Kelly, authorities say.

Kelly's former colleagues suspect the original verdict of suicide is incorrect and should be overturned.

Kelly, a 59-year-old microbiologist died days after being revealed as the source of confidential information in a 2003 BBC story about the Iraq war, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday. In it, Kelly alleged the British government "sexed up" evidence against Iraq to justify the invasion....>>>>>

An Op-Ed I caught, at least some are paying attention, across the pond, here in the states:

We've spent too much on war; seek peace

The call for peace has nothing to do with the Democratic Party or the Republican party; this is about the American people and about people of other lands who struggle to defend their homes. It makes little difference which political party is in power; both are heavily influenced by corporate elite who profit directly or indirectly from wars.

The Iraq Inquiry, currently being held in Britain and chaired by Sir John Chilcot, reveals that the American and British governments knew very well that there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida, and no weapons of mass destruction. They were told that the invasion was illegal and unwarranted, but that made no difference.

Snip

But overall American poverty cannot compare with the poverty, destitution and pain suffered by the hundreds of thousands of people who are victims of military invasions.

The death, disease, maiming and displacement of whole populations subject to the violence of wars is unimaginable. The use of hideous weaponry that leads to hideous suffering that goes on long after an attack, destroying young and old alike, is morally indefensible and unforgivable....>>>>>

US 'neglected' southern Iraq, ambassador tells Chilcot inquiry

Edward Chaplin tells inquiry that despite billions of dollars being poured into Iraq by the US, little went to the main UK area of operations around Basra

Edward Chaplin, who in 2004 became the first British ambassador to Baghdad for 13 years, said that despite the billions of dollars being poured into Iraq by the US, little went to the south, which was the main UK area of operations.

He said that the lack of assistance was "damaging", breeding resentment in an area which had been historically neglected under the rule of Saddam Hussein...>>>>>

Senior officer says he urged Tony Blair to delay invasion

Major General Tim Cross tells Chilcot panel that preparations were 'woefully thin'

"We talked for about 30 minutes or so. I was as honest about the positions as I could be, essentially briefing that I did not believe post-war planning was anywhere near ready," he said.

"I told him that there was no clarity on what was going to be needed after the military phase of the operation, nor who would provide it.

"Although I was confident that we would secure a military victory, I offered my view that we should not begin that campaign until we had a much more coherent post-war plan."

He also criticised the then-international development secretary, Clare Short – who subsequently resigned over the war – saying she would not allow one of her officials to work with him on a full-time basis because of her "well known concerns".

"This was, I am bound to say, unhelpful for me, and it was an early indicator that Whitehall was not much more joined up than Washington," he said....>>>>>

Chilcot tantalises us with documents

The cosy Iraq inquiry has an infuriating habit of referring to key evidence but not indicating when, if ever, it will be published

Snip

Observers have commented already on the cosy nature of the proceedings, the formally polite, almost oleaginous, interventions of the chairman. As important is the deeply frustrating manner in which the inquiry panel members refer to documents but do not quote from them. They do not quote even from the Downing Street documents (which appear on more than one dedicated website) leaked more than four years ago.

These make clear that senior officials and ministers were warning Tony Blair even before his private head-to-head meeting with George Bush at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002, 11 months before the invasion, that military action to topple Saddam would be unlawful, that the government should first have to spend a lot of effort massaging British public opinion, and that in the notorious phrase attributed to Sir Richard Dearlove, then head of MI6, "the facts and intelligence" were being "fixed round the policy" in Washington. These documents were given to the Butler review into the way intelligence was used and abused in the runup to the invasion but not published on the grounds that that inquiry had limited terms of reference...>>>>>

Blair warned over Iraq war planning

Major General Tim Cross

A senior Army officer described how he warned Tony Blair two days before the invasion of Iraq that there were insufficient preparations for dealing with the aftermath of the conflict.

Giving evidence to the official inquiry into the war, Major General Tim Cross said he told Mr Blair that he did not believe the post-war planning was "anywhere near ready" and that the situation in the country could be "chaotic".

Gen Cross said that in the weeks leading up to the invasion he had tried to raise his concerns in both London and Washington, but that his views were "not particularly warmly received" by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Snip

Gen Cross - who was attached to the US Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (Orha) which was supposed to manage the aftermath - said that he set out his concerns in a 30 minute meeting with Mr Blair in No 10 on March 18...>>>>>

Tony Blair Ignored Iraq Warning, Top General Says

U.S. Marine Corps / Lance Cpl. Matthew R. Jones

Add Maj. Gen. Tim Cross to that growing list of people who foresaw disaster in Iraq but were ignored. The senior British liaison to the U.S. reconstruction effort warned his prime minister before the invasion that insufficient postwar planning would lead to chaos. The rest is history...>>>>>

The truth about the Iraq war finalling coming out

The current Chilcot Enquiry in the UK is at last bringing out the truth about the illegal Iraq War. The fact long known by many that there was no justification for this war and that the agenda was completely different to that purported is confirmed by Christopher Story of World Reports in his Global Analysis of 3 December 2009. ..>>>>>

Todays Inquiry is still going on as I post this, around four pm U.S. est., as they are talking to Government official of that time, didn't catch name but reports will be coming on his testimony shortly I'm sure.

Military Children Face More Emotional Challenges as Parental Deployments Grow Longer, Study Finds

Children in military families may suffer from more emotional and behavioral difficulties when compared to other American youths, with older children and girls struggling the most when a parent is deployed overseas, according to a new RAND Corporation study...>>>>>

Iraq War Inquiry, Day Eight

Friday, 12.04.09, was the eighth day of the British Iraq War Inquiry which has been bringing forth some very interesting, and adding to the possibility of incriminating, pieces of information pertaining to what had been going on within the administration of President Bush prior to what happened on Sept 11 2001, on the day of the destructive deadly attacks of Sept 11 2001 and in the immediate days following and leading up to the invasion and lack of concern about after the destruction and then occupation of Iraq.

Before, on and right after 9/11 the administration was seemingly more focused on Iraq and not on Afghanistan as the evidence grew that the al Qaeda group, harbored by the Taliban in Afghanistan, were the criminal terrorist who carried out the attacks that tragic day. While planning and placing military troops, U.S. and NATO, in position for an attack and invasion of that country discussion and planning started on also invading Iraq and seeking the needed reasons for such an attack trying to connect Iraq to the 9/11 attacks and support of al Qaeda.

On day seven we find out more about how the issue of Iraq and Saddam was being handled as to the Defense Department and U.S. Military Planners:

The military planning track involved a dialogue between Donald Rumsfeld and the central command at Tampa. The Washington chiefs of staff were less involved. The system of "well-structured" discussions between the state department and the Pentagon and other agencies that had existed at the time of the first Gulf war was not evident this time round.

Boyce mentions the "dysfunctionalism" of Washington. He says that he would find himself briefing his American counterparts on what was happening in different parts of the US administration. Rumsfeld was not sharing information....>>>>>

While most of the reporting about the inquiry is coming out of the British media there are a few popping up here in the states, like this one from the Tennessean

Britain right to open investigation over war

I see that Britain is finally getting to the bottom of the cause and the lies that led up to the invasion of Iraq (“British open inquiry on Iraq war causes,” Nov. 25). Of course, this is more than our own Bush political party will condone.

That’s all well and good for future reference, but it does nothing to punish the perpetrators behind this mass illusion, which was orchestrated by Mr. Bush and his underlings.

Snip

We already know that planning for the invasion started when Mr. Bush took the oath of office and had nothing to do with terrorism or weapons of mass destruction.

Evidently part of that oath had nothing to do with honesty....>>>>>

Good to see a few are paying at least a tiny bit of attention, here in this country, as the inquiry unfolds.

Iraq war inquiry sees fingers pointed at US

Lord Boyce called American lack of communication "dysfunctionalism"

The Iraq inquiry has produced another week of compelling evidence.

We are beginning to understand how and why Iraq ended up in such a parlous state after the 2003 invasion.

A number of witnesses have pointed a finger of blame at the United States for the chaos that ensued....>>>>>

I'm beginning to think that if there ever was there won't be any more high fives or exchange of Christmas cards or gifts in either direction across the pond starting this year, eight years in the Iraq occupation and nine years into the Afghanistan occupation, which now is growing.

Ex-UN weapons inspector condemns Blair, Bush on Iraq

Blix said he warned Blair not to invade

George W. Bush and Tony Blair's conviction that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was a threat blinded them to the lack of evidence justifying a war to depose him, an ex-UN weapons inspector said Saturday.

Hans Blix, who led the UN weapons inspection team in the run-up to the 2003 invasion, told the Daily Mail that the then US and British leaders had "misled themselves and then they misled the public" about the reason for the conflict....>>>>>

Treasury accused over Iraq funds

The inquiry heard Whitehall was told there was no extra cash for rebuilding

The Treasury refused to release extra funds for the reconstruction of Basra, the Iraq war inquiry has been told.

Dominic Asquith, the former Foreign Office director for Iraq, said more money was requested to help rebuild the southern Iraqi city.

But Mr Asquith said government departments were told they would have to find the cash from existing budgets.

This was despite the fact that rebuilding was supposed to be a high priority for ministers, he added....>>>>>

UK sent large force to Iraq to raise standing with US, Chilcot inquiry hears

Former deputy chief of the defence staff says major military role meant Britain was able to show it was a 'serious player'

Britain committed a large land force to the invasion of Iraq in an attempt to buy influence with the United States, the official inquiry into the war has been told.

Lieutenant General Sir Anthony Pigott, who was deputy chief of the defence staff responsible for commitments, said that by taking on a major military role the UK was able to show the Americans that it was a "serious player". After Tony Blair's meeting with George Bush at the president's Texas ranch in April 2002, Pigott said he set up a small team to look at the options for military action against Iraq....>>>>>

Everything that is coming out of this inquiry as to what was going on within the British Government and Military can only be thought of as Compounded here in the United States as to our own Government and Military Leaders, we were the driving force the rest were following our lead, which continued!

Brown refused to increase Iraq funds

Gordon Brown as chancellor refused to increase funds for the reconstruction of southern Iraq in spite of pleas for more resources from the frontline, an inquiry heard on Friday.

Dominic Asquith, a senior Foreign Office official, told the Iraq inquiry that efforts to rebuild Basra, where British forces were based, were held back by a lack of money.

“The direction was that this was a high priority but we weren’t being given the extra resources to deliver,” he said. “It was left to Whitehall departments to put the case to the Treasury for resources to cover this to which the answer was ‘There are no resources’.”...>>>>>

And of course we all know, and are living in, what has happened since as to Economies around the globe.

And more information keeps dripping out, one can only imagine, especially as our country moved on from any accountability, what was going on within our own Government and Military, all this while we and others were still occupying Afghanistan and the insurgent forces were growing and improving their tactics and attacks!

Lord Goldsmith 'was stopped from going to Iraq by John Reid'

Shocking new evidence reveals how the Labour Government bullied the Cabinet Minister who told Tony Blair that the Iraq War was illegal.

Former Defence Secretary John Reid banned the head of the Army, General Sir Mike Jackson, from taking Attorney General Lord Goldsmith to Baghdad to investigate alleged mistreatment of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers.

According to a Ministry of Defence source, Dr Reid told the Army chief: 'I'm your commanding officer. You're not taking Goldsmith with you, is that clear?'

Snip

Lord Goldsmith, who was leading moves to crack down on British soldiers accused of brutality against Iraqis, agreed - but when Dr Reid found out, he pulled rank on Sir Mike, one of the most respected British Army commanders of his generation.

Snip

Today's disclosure follows a report in last week's Mail on Sunday that Lord Goldsmith told Mr Blair eight months before the conflict that it was illegal - and was 'bullied' into backing down at the last minute....>>>>>

Wonder if this will get even a slight mention today on our Sunday Morning Talking Heads Shows, just wonderin, especially if any discussion is done as to the escalation of the Afghanistan Conflict by the US and NATO!!