Could the Brit Iraq War Inquiry be Expanding?

But probably not here in the states, for we're a Nation of Arrogance and Apathy, but Fear and what we call our Politics rules our critical thoughts and common sense and especially fear of bringing possible extreme criminal leaders, and their support groups, to justice!

The Chilcot Iraq War Inquiry is on a break for the holidays. Holidays of celebrating the birth of the 'prince of peace' from one religious ideology as well as other celebrations from this worlds other religious ideologies, all of these based on a number of religious themes and teachings but one stands out that isn't followed 'tolerance' of each other and even outside of religions the racial and religious makeup of others.

The other holiday will see the end of a very destructive decade! It started out very questionable towards greater world peace, a goal everyone is supposed to want and led by this country, the United States, as we preach our rhetoric of democracy and freedom for all from that once big house on the top of the hill of power, then went rapidly downhill from there! We've possibly created the decades of hate and retaliation from our failed policies and extremely failed moral judgments to come. The death and destruction wrought, the hatreds raised, the feeding of the reality into that which others have described us as really being was the decade passing into the coming decades of possible criminal terror that knows no border and has ghost named groups as enemies!

But the reason for the subject title comes from a little article, one of many, after apparently a radio news announcement in one of the countries of the 'coalition of the willing' that have been coming out after the first couple of weeks of the British Iraq War Inquiry before the break for the afore mentioned Happy Holidays.

JAPANESE LAWMAKERS DEMAND INQUIRY INTO SUPPORT FOR IRAQ WAR

Politicians from Japan’s ruling coalition are to demand an inquiry into Japan’s decision to support the Iraq War.

Lawmakers from the Democratic and Social Democratic parties have criticized the decision by the cabinet of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to support the United States’ use of force in Iraq...>>>>>

They say they will be seeking a third party inquiry next year.

Why could this be important especially if other countries, who might have changed governments and or feel a guilt from being participants in the death and destruction, come forward seeking answers?

There are an awful lot of questions still needing answers or pieces of the already known to fill in some blanks, we've already seen some filled and now on the record in public testimony as to what was going on within our administration starting even before Sept 11.

One of those questions still out there and rarely mentioned, if at all, was how much did it cost us as a Nation to gather the other countries, some sending handfuls of military troops most not, to support the invasion and destruction of Iraq based of falsified intelligence and a want for regime change of a once friend of this country and control of that country and it's resources. Which in turn caused the abandonment of helping the Afghanistan people after the overthrow of the Taliban and walking away from really seeking out and destroying the perpetrators of the Sept 11th hijacking attacks on this country, the purpose of which is why we went to War in the first place.

What were given to these small countries, many with little power nor military to offer only the support sought by the corrupt administration here in the United States who were collecting and cheery picking intelligence and spin to justify their wants of not only regime change, and possibly hiding the failed policies of the past forever, but control as an added member of an empire with our military based in country for the coming decades.

Did it cost us, from our empty treasury, to garner the British support as well? Probably, but that may never come out as it's already been mentioned in the Inquiry that Iraq was already on a short list, near the bottom, of potential trouble countries as seen by the Blair government at the time and I'm sure they, empire builders of old, were seeking a cut of the lucrative monetary wealth the U.S. was also seeking from the oil and more!

If more of these countries of the 'coalition of the willing' come forward with their own inquiries, or individuals of do same, we may get the answers to what we promised and gave them in return for their support and especially those who sent their own military troops in many sacrificing their lives on our failed whims of total power and control of others and greasing the wheels of the military industrial complex with more enemies to profit off of for years to come.

These Inquiries may just minimize the blowback sure to come from our failed policies, we may have been witness yesterday, Christmas day, of an act of retaliation and blowback, hopefully a singular attempt! But since the past decade began, as we finish it out with the coming year, there have already been many forms of criminal terror in many countries.

Below are a few other picks of articles coming out of the British Inquiry and before they reconvene.

Press TV/News Analysis/Iraq war inquiry/12/11/2009


Blair to Testify Before Iraq Inquiry

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is scheduled to testify before an independent inquiry on his nation's involvement in the Iraq war early next year, United Press International reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 18)...>>>>>

To this decade of deception, goodbye and good riddance

Just over 10 years ago I was waiting on top of the Mount of Olives, notebook in hand, for the end of the world. It was December 1999, and newspapers were peddling the spectre of a catastrophe to mark the dawn of the new millennium.

In Jerusalem the story was that a fringe Christian sect would commit mass suicide or blast open the Golden Gate in the Old City walls, unleashing a torrent of blood.

Snip

The clearest example is the response of the US after the al Qa’eda attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001. A clear-eyed analysis of the goals of Osama bin Laden shows that his aims were, and always have been, regime change in the Islamic world, starting with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, rather than any grand plan to destroy the United States. But bin Laden was elevated by the US to the status of global threat, unleashing the full force of the US military into a “war on terror”, starting in Afghanistan, which was probably justified, and then moving to Iraq, which was a disastrous sideshow...>>>>>

Grieving mother grills Iraq inquiry

THE mother of an East Bierley soldier killed in Iraq travelled to the capital on Friday to pose questions to the Iraq Inquiry.

In an open letter to the former prime minister Tony Blair, Pauline Hickey asked him to explain the government's reasons for invading Iraq in March 2003.

Snip

Mrs Hickey said Mr Blair had a "moral duty as a renowned committed Christian" to meet the families of the fallen and explain his stance.

The anti-war campaigner has never managed to speak to Mr Blair, but as reported in the Spenborough Guardian last year, she did meet Gordon Brown and Defence Secetary Des Browne, but got "no direct answers."...>>>>>

THE mother of the first woman soldier killed in Iraq has slammed the Government - branding ministers THICK.

She hit out as fury erupted after Gordon Brown was told he will not give evidence to the Iraq war inquiry until AFTER the general election.

Mrs Manning said: "The MoD are not interested. To them, our kids are numbers. If only they would listen to us, answer our questions. We actually went to see Des Browne when he was defence minister, and asked quite a few questions. He came out with a stupid quip like, 'Well I don't know anything until I'm told'. I mean, how thick are these people?"

Her daughter, Staff Sgt Sharron Elliott, 34, died when her boat hit a bomb mounted on a bridge near Basra in November 2006....>>>>>

Tony Blair costs British taxpayers £6m a year to protect

Tony Blair is costing British taxpayers £6 million a year to protect – more than the current Prime Minister, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Snip

Whitehall insiders are becoming increasingly concerned over the security costs as Mr Blair travels the world on lucrative private sector work.

It is feared that Mr Blair’s security will become even more costly next year following his appearance before the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war which could make him more of a terrorist target.

Mr Blair is typically abroad most weeks and the average bill for his close protection team of bodyguards is more than £16,000 a day, according to Whitehall sources. The protection bill is three times higher than previous public estimates....>>>>>

Did you have a 'Merry Christmas'?, well have a 'Happy New Year'? and the years to come!!

Here's hoping the Japanese follow the British lead and that answers are forth coming to the many questions!!

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

BBC Iraq inquiry - day by day timeline of evidence given

Afghan Winter Warmth & More

True Craftsmen, as crafts and tradespersons around the world.

Custom-made stoves blend warmth, art in Kabul

When snow covers the mountains north of Kabul and temperatures drop below freezing, many residents of Afghanistan's capital rely on their bukhari stoves to heat their homes.

The stoves burn wood, sawdust, diesel fuel and kerosene. Each is made by hand.

Most of the stoves are made in a block in north Kabul, and as you approach it, a symphony of noise rises, beginning with a faint staccato that grows into a crescendo of every pitch — the sound of men working with metal as each component of each stove is carefully made.

Young boys rush about, ferrying parts through the 30 or so shops in the market. The men have decades of experience in the craft. Intricate designs are pressed into the sheet metal with rotary presses...>>>>>

Brother Craftsmen, Tradesmen, and my guess is, like in most of this world, they get more respect there then we here in our so called advanced educated society!!

Raw Video: Pfc Bowe Robert Bergdahl, POW

For better then a week now there have been reports that the Taliban were going to release a video of Pfc Bergdahl and than just silence till this morning.

This is just starting to hit the many outlets in many places, the AP seems to have released the video a few hours ago and others are picking up the story now as I refresh google search!

Purported Taliban footage of U.S. soldier

The Taliban released Friday a video purporting to show a U.S. soldier who was captured more than five months ago in eastern Afghanistan. (Dec. 25)

Taliban video 'shows captive US soldier Bowe Bergdahl'

Pfc Bergdahl is the only known American captive of the Taliban

The Taliban has released a video purporting to show US soldier Bowe Robert Bergdahl who was captured in Afghanistan almost six months ago.

The video has not been verified, but shows a man wearing sunglasses and a US military-style helmet and uniform.

He appears healthy and speaks calmly and clearly, and does not appear to be under duress, the AP news agency said...>>>>>

The following one just was posted by the LA Times a few minutes ago.

Video shows captured U.S. soldier, Taliban says

The Taliban movement today released a video that it said showed Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier captured nearly six months ago in Afghanistan.

The American military had no immediate comment on the video's authenticity.

Bergdahl, a member of a unit based in Fort Richardson, Alaska, is the only U.S. service member known to have been seized by insurgents during the Afghan conflict, which is now in its ninth year.

He vanished June 30 from his base in Paktika province, bordering Pakistan, and military authorities acknowledged at the time that he appeared to have walked away from his post for unknown reasons....>>>>>

The following clip is one just posted and mixed in with a few other reports about the snow storm etc., haven't seen another yet calling for a swap so not sure how accurate unless others start updating.

Taliban demands prisoner swap

The Taliban is renewing its demand for a release of prisoners in exchange for Pfc. Bowe (boh) Bergdahl. The airborne infantryman was captured by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan in June. The Taliban has released a new video that it claims shows Bergdahl. In it the Idaho native gives personal information before delivering a lengthy criticism of the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

This incident has left way to many questions with the way it's been described by the military. If he did actually 'just walk away' why didn't any others on watch see him leaving and stop him, or were there other's on watch. Security at this base comes across as extremely lax, his side of the story needs to be heard or a better rational description from the military instead of what they given then went silent on!

Family pleas for captive US soldier's release

In Idaho, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl's family pleaded on Christmas Day for his release and urged him to "stay strong."

Bergdahl disappeared June 30 while based in eastern Afghanistan and is the only known American serviceman in captivity. The Taliban claimed his capture in a video released in mid-July that showed the young Idaho soldier appearing downcast and frightened. He hadn't been heard from until Friday's video, in which he looks well and speaks clearly.

Snip

Lt. Col. Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard issued a statement Friday from the family of Bergdahl, who live outside Hailey, Idaho. In their statement, the family urged the captors "to let our only son come home."

And to their son, the family said, "We love you and we believe in you. Stay strong."

Marsano met with the family Friday morning at their home. He told the AP that the family had not seen the video but had talked to other relatives who had seen it...>>>>>

BOWS FOR BOWE

Friends and family of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl have started collecting pictures of yellow ribbons in support of Bowe, posting them on a blog at Bows for Bowe

Desperate Measures:

Man Joins Army for Health Insurance

Michelle Caudle has Ovarian Cancer; Husband Joins Army to Pay for Care

Snip

Alycia, the Caudles' first daughter, is older than some of her father's fellow army recruits.

"You see what real love is, when you see this," she said. "He's willing to give his life for his family."...>>>>>

Photo: Desperate Measures: Man Joins Army for Health Insurance: Michelle Caudle has Ovarian Cancer; Husband Joins Army to Pay for Care

Michelle Caudle rests her head on husband Bill Caudle's shoulder after his graduation ceremony from Army basic training at Ft. Knox, Ky., in this Dec. 17, 2009 file photo.
ABCNEWS (syndicate)
Dec 24, 2009 06:45 PM

A Very Merry Christmas to This Brother and His Family with Prayers for his Wifes Recovery!!

{Was hoping they'd have the video report up by now, they don't.}


Obamas salute military in their Christmas message

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama offered Christmas wishes to the nation on Thursday, including a special thanks for the U.S. military. They urged Americans to help support military families this holiday season...>>>>>

America's war in Afghanistan

In Russia, foreboding about America's war in Afghanistan

Thirty years ago this week, the Red Army began its invasion of Afghanistan, a move that sank the Soviet Union in a decade of guerrilla war and hastened the collapse of the Cold War empire.

Today, as former Soviet soldiers watch American troops trying to pacify the same stretches of Afghan land they once fought for, aging Soviet generals and grunts alike are reminded of a war they'd rather forget....>>>>>

MSF Releases 12th Annual "Top Ten" List

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Releases 12th Annual List

Civilians attacked, bombed, and cut off from aid in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), along with stagnant funding for treating HIV/AIDS and ongoing neglect of other diseases, were among the worst emergencies in 2009.

Continuing crises in north and south Sudan, along with the failure of the international community to finally combat childhood malnutrition were also included on this year's list. The list is drawn from MSF's operational activities in close to 70 countries, where the organization's medical teams witnessed some of the worst humanitarian conditions. Read the full press release »

"There is no question that civilians are increasingly victimized in conflicts and further cut off from lifesaving assistance, often deliberately. In places like Sri Lanka and Yemen, where armed conflicts raged in 2009, aid groups were either blocked from accessing those in need or forced out because they too came under fire. This unacceptable dynamic is becoming the norm. Our teams on the ground are witnessing the very tangible human consequences of these crises directly, either in war zones or in the AIDS and nutrition clinics in which they work. We're therefore compelled and obligated to speak out.”

— Dr. Christophe Fournier
MSF International Council President

MSF began producing the “Top Ten” list in 1998, when a devastating famine in southern Sudan went largely unreported in U.S. media. Drawing on MSF’s emergency medical work, the list seeks to generate greater awareness of the magnitude and severity of crises that may or may not be reflected in media accounts. View the full "Top Ten" archive.....>>>>>

An American Christmas 2009

This is America this Christmas in many area's, way too many!! This was one of the 60min reports tonight.

Wilmington, Ohio's Long Recession

60 Minutes Revisits A Town Hit Hard By The Recession; Have Things Improved Nearly A Year Since Our First Report?



This week marks the third Christmas of the Great Recession. The decline that began in December 2007 has destroyed more than seven million jobs. But that's just the half of it: millions more have had their hours cut to part time or have just quit looking for work. Altogether, that comes to 17 percent of the workforce.

There are pockets of severe unemployment all across the country in places like Wilmington, Ohio. 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley first reported about Wilmington this time last year, when its major employer was closing....>>>>>

Where is All that Private Capital that sits at the top, promised to trickle down if only we'd let the powerful and best of the best Reap the Wealth of Our Labors?

Remnants of War, Just One

There are many for if there is an end it doesn't come for decades later for those invaded and occupied by others. The innocent are the ones who suffer the most and in greater numbers by the destruction and death from the moment of invasion and decades later with what's left behind by those who are ordered to invade and then occupy in these Wars of Choice based on lies or for reasons of material worth a small country can add to a power that wants to control.

This is just one of many of the long running destructive remnants of our generations War of Choice, an extremely destructive Weapon of Mass Destruction, Dioxin, Agent Orange and the others used as we occupied a small country Vietnam for over a decade. Destructive not only to the Vietnamese Civilians, then and now, but also to many soldiers who served in country and elsewhere, where it was stored and packaged for shipment to Vietnam and stored at bases to be sprayed over the country at the whim of the commanders of war.

Scientists have been raising the alarm about dioxins since the 1960s....>>>>>

Agent Orange Continues to Poison New Generations in Vietnam

Deformed fetuses at Ho Chi Minh City's Tu Du Hospital, where doctors blame the high incidence of deformities on the use of Agent Orange during the war. STR New / Reuters

This lonely section of the abandoned Danang air base was once crawling with U.S. airmen and machines. It was here where giant orange drums were stored and the herbicides they contained were mixed and loaded onto waiting planes. Whatever sloshed out soaked into the soil and eventually seeped into the water supply. Thirty years later, the rare visitor to the former U.S. air base is provided with rubber boots and protective clothing. Residue from Agent Orange, which was sprayed to deny enemy troops jungle cover, remains so toxic that this patch of land is considered one of the most contaminated pieces of real estate in the country

Snip

After years of meetings, signings and photo ops, the U.S. held another ceremony in Vietnam on Dec. 16 to sign yet another memorandum of understanding as part of the continuing effort to manage Agent Orange's dark legacy.....>>>>>

In 2007 and 2009, the US Congress allocated a total of US$6 million for efforts to ease the impact of dioxin in Vietnam.

The sum comprises US$2 million under cooperative agreements on providing health, education and social services for the handicapped in Danang. It is part of a larger sum of over US$46 million that the US has provided for assisting Vietnamese people with disabilities.

In September 2009, the US spent $1.9 million helping Vietnam set up a project to treat and contain dioxin left in the Danang airport after war...>>>>>

Put those monetary figures above into perspective, and just on the economic impact to those companies who's products are used in waging and fighting our Wars of Choice. Just take one years, out of the last couple of decades and more, compensation paid to the corporate heads of these companies add in the company perks, written off as company expenses, and the bonuses given. Now think of same for all the executives under these corporate leaders, and these are given out even if these executives prove to be incompetent or try and cover up the known within that corporate world. And that's not even looking at the wealth made from investors especially the big investors!

"If those were in Canada or in the U.S., they would require immediate cleanup," Boivin says.

Snip

But critics believe the U.S. is playing a grim waiting game: waiting for people to die in order to avoid potentially costly lawsuits. For a country currently engaged in two wars, accepting comprehensive responsibility for wartime damages could set an expensive precedent. "They know what the problem is and where it is," says Chuck Searcy, country representative of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. "Why do they now need an environmental impact assessment? They are studying this to death."

Snip

Dow and Monsanto, the chemical's largest manufacturers, eventually shelled out millions in damages to U.S. troops who were exposed to it while it was being used as a wartime defoliant from 1961 to 1971. The U.S. government still spends billions every year on disability payments to those who served in Vietnam — including their children, many of whom are suffering from dioxin-associated cancers and birth defects. In October, the Department of Veterans Affairs added leukemia, Parkinson's and a rare heart disease to the list of health problems associated with Agent Orange. Yet U.S. official policy maintains that there is no conclusive evidence that the defoliant caused any health problems among the millions of exposed Vietnamese or their children....>>>>>

Still, the Vietnamese people (and the government, though more quietly) contend it's the U.S. that should be doing more — much more. Some point out that the U.S. spends only a fraction on Agent Orange cleanup compared to the $50 million it spends every year on searching for the remains of American soldiers missing in action. Thao Griffiths, country director of Vietnam Veterans of America, which works on lingering war issues, points out that the legacy of each is equally painful. "The issue of MIAs for Americans holds the same importance that Agent Orange does for the Vietnamese," she says. And until the issue is resolved, the legacy of the war will continue to haunt both sides....>>>>>

Many Vietnam Veterans, like the VVA, have worked with the Vietnamese in trying to resolve the issues, and guilt, of what our country did to theirs as we occupied it for a number of years. Many were, and still do, travel to Vietnam in that advocacy even before this country finally normalized relations with we once called our enemies.

Faces of Agent Orange {2page pdf}

For Gary Jones, the puzzle that is Agent Orange can be explained, or more to the point, not explained, by two words — “circumstantial” and “coincidence.” The words are at once the core and the conundrum of his Agent Orange experience....>>>>>

Also members of Veterans for Peace helping to build and support orphanages and other needed facilities within Vietnam for the Vietnamese and what we left behind and our Government has yet to compensate for the death and destruction wrought. Like the Veterans Viet Nam Restoration Project and the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, in this there has been ongoing help in fighting the Chemical Companies in the United States Courts over these past decades.

The Chicago Tribune has a five part series on the legacy of the Dioxins, Agent Orange, left behind and still contaminating the Vietnamese people as well as the American Soldiers, our brothers, who haven't yet perished from their contact with while In-Country or handling it anywhere.


Photo Gallery: The Legacy of Agent Orange

Memories of the Vietnam War are dimming, but veterans and Vietnamese nationals who were exposed to Agent Orange and other dioxin-laced defoliants are still experiencing devastating health effects, and birth defects have brought the impact into a second generation. Yet the U.S. government has yet to make full amends, either in the U.S. or overseas.

Part 1 of 5: For U.S., a record of neglect

U.S. veterans exposed to Agent Orange face delays and a maddening bureaucracy as they seek compensation for related illnesses. In Vietnam, where untold numbers of people suffer from the same maladies and the chemicals continue to poison the environment, government officials wonder how the U.S. can ignore the ongoing effects of the defoliants....>>>>>

Part 2: 'Insult to injury'

For many U.S. veterans, the bureaucratic fight to be compensated for health problems linked to Agent Orange amounts to a new and unexpected war, long after the shooting ended overseas....>>>>>

Part 3: Born into controversy

The most contentious question surrounding the use of defoliants in the war is their impact on citizens, particularly the suspected link between the herbicides and birth defects....>>>>>

Part 4: A poison still potent

New research finds former U.S. airbases in Vietnam remain polluted from defoliants, underscoring the urgency of a solvable problem. The U.S. has done little to clean up the hot spots....>>>>>

Part 5: Danger not averted

The Tribune unearths documents showing that decisions by the U.S. military and chemical companies that manufactured the defoliants used in Vietnam made the spraying more dangerous than it had to be....>>>>>

At each, and on the main page, there are links to video's as well as side links to other information and photo's.

These are the Weapons of Mass Destruction used in mans waging of War and Occupations on others, long lasting, and the defoliants are only one of many remnants of these wars. As we are still occupying two other small countries, in this new century and generation, we are leaving behind many of these same remnants and even more in our use of the modern weaponry or just needs, like burn pits, as we occupy them.

These not only contaminate the ground but also the water supplies as well as getting into the air that is breathed, once in the air they can travel for miles as they are now in our atmosphere, collecting and trapped there and continually moving around the planet.

Add to them the contaminations and pollutions man produces, or uses, especially in industrialized nations, making that which we need or just the materialistic items we crave, and we are contaminating much of our earth, soil, the waters we drink and gather a food supply from, and the air we all breath, collecting and trapped in the atmosphere that sustains not only our lives but that which is living on this planet.

The more we contaminate the faster the planet evolves and that evolution, with the contamination by man, not only continues to kill after our wars but will cause and disfigurements and death of all living things on this planet many already gone and never to return. And we don't know what many benefits they might have had as to disease or in helping sustain a planet of life.