Blair just said “You would be hard pressed to find anyone who in September 2002 doubted that Saddam had WMD”.
It wouldn’t have been that hard. If he had asked members of the Near East and North Africa Department of the FCO, the Middle East experts in the FCO’s Research Analysts, or in the Defence Intelligence Service, he would have found absolutely no shortage of people who doubted it, whatever position No 10 was forcing on their institutions.
One of the many failures of this Inquiry has been a failure to ask individual witnesses before it whether they personally had believed in the existence of any significant Iraqi WMD programme. I know for certain that would have drawn some extremely enlightening answers from among the FCO and probably MOD participants.
Sir Martin Gilbert allowed Blair to conflate Iran, Iraq, Al-Qaida, WMD and terrorism in a completely unjustified way. When Straw tried exactly the same trick, Rod Lyne did not allow him to get away with it.
A further stark contrast with Straw is that both Blair and Straw were asked about the failure of the UK to secure movement in the Middle East peace process by using our role in Iraq to influence the USA. A major, detailed and fascinating part of Straw’s answer was that Israel’s – and specifically Netanyahu’s – political influence in the USA had prevented progress.
By contrast, Blair did not even mention Israel in response to the questions on the failure to achieve progress in the Middle East. He solely blamed the Palestinian Intafada. He has been anxious to widen the discussion beyond Iraq at every opportunity, and frequently referred to destabilising factors in the Middle East, and again and again pointed to a growing threat from Iran and Iranian sponsorship of terrorism, and to Palestinian terrorism (including Saddam Hussein’s past sponsorship of it).
He has made not one single comment about Israel’s behaviour as a contributing factor in Middle East instability. Given Blair’s official position as Middle East envoy, this lack of any bare pretence at impartiality is most revealing.
George Dutton “an O.K. bloke”
Thank you Tony,I shall have that inscribed on my headstone.
“The British government was from the outset fully prepared to back the US invasion of Iraq, with or without a second resolution, as they had done in the Balkans. But even had they secured such a resolution, the war still would have constituted a criminal war of aggression?”albeit one hidden behind the false legitimacy provided by the UN.”…
http://tinyurl.com/yaj33jq
Tony_opmoc,
I’ve only just come back to this thread. Thanks for the complement. You can act as my agent if you wish. I did e-mail you the other day, but I haven’t heard from you. I’ve just sent another; check your spam filter!
George,
About 3 months ago I was standing in my local pub just having a quiet drink with my wife whilst there was a crap band on …
And this bloke comes up to me and starts shouting at me
“Its All Your Fault”
And He Had The First and The Third Fingers Of His Hand Splayed Wide Open
And They Were Jabbing Towards My Eyes About TWO Inches Away
And I said
“What The Fuck Are You On About?”
Eventually, at the End Of The Night
He Said
” I was an OK Bloke ”
And He Offerred Me His Hand
And I Shook It
He said – No it Wasn’t You
It Was Your Mate That Shagged My Girlfriend
Tony
I love the UK! Completely forgot that this was our Christmas No 1!
http://www.last.fm/music/Rage+Against+the+Machine/_/Killing+in+the+Name
Clark,
Sorry, I have been retired for 5 years now.
When I was working, I was on call 24×7
My mobile was going off continuously
My own home phone was going off continuously
My works phone was going off continuously
My pager was going off continuously
So when I finally escaped
I turned everything off
I rarely read emails, and when I do its hard to find the 1% genuine, amongst the 99% of spam
I don’t do agent
I occasionally do stuff and I always give it away for free
But if anyone wants to give you anything for your photography and you feel you don’t want anything then you could always accept it and donate it to
http://www.coia.org.uk/
Tony
Working my way down the thread here – thank, Technicolour and Glenn. Yes, the Police were white, but they did behave. I had to leave at about mid day. Imag0063 that Tony likes was taken during the Naming of the Dead, I think. Al, that’s fine. Send them anywhere. They’re just snaps, loads out of focus or with badly placed placards etc, and there were LOTS of cameras about.
by whatever means this war monger liar bastard tony blair msut be brought to justice by a court in IRAQ AND THEN WHEN FOUND OF CRIME THEN HE SHOUDL EB TORTURED TO DEATH AS WAS DONE TO IRAQIS.
this tony blair bastard drips of evil and such types must be confronted and sorted out .
Paul Amery,
avatar singh,
Blair shouldn’t be killed. He must live until he knows what he has done, and then kept as an example and an object of study.
George’s post repeated:
“If it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008)
Clark,
I agree completely and have spent over 2 years descriving at length in websites all over the world translated into as many languages as I could find to translate it into language that everyone could understand ( I exagerate slightly )
Tony Blair is Our War Criminal, and Eventually We will Get Him On Trial For War Crimes Against Humanity and If He is Found Guilty
We Will Keep Him Alive For As Long As Possible And He Will Be Given Full Human Rights In His Jail Close or In The Tower Of London.
He Will Appear Publicly For One Hour a Week – In His Cage – And He Will Answer Questions.
I Didn’t Say What We Would Do To Him If He Was Found INNOCENT
Tony
“For reference, if you were heading the inquiry, can you give us a short list of questions that you would put to Blair or Straw? ”
To me, it seems to be shaping up into another version of the self-flattering thing, the “we suave Brits know how to do these things subtly, we’ll use our influence to moderate these oh-so-crude Yanks” patrolling-in-soft-headgear thing. (ie, he’s a vain balloon of a man. I wonder if it was played on).
So, it would be interesting to know, just what did he stop ? What even-more-dreadful things would our allies have done without his righteous moral tuition to stop them ?
Are transcripts of the enquiry proceedings available online anywhere, or will they be ? Does anyone know ?
Tony,
thanks pal
nite all – shattered
Richard Robinson,
You are incredibly naive
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair was Playing Battle Ship and Other Wargames in His Bath Tub – Long Before He Met George Bush
The Well Projected Image Is Not Necessarily True
It Actually Could Have Been The Other Way Round
Whilst Even Mandy Knows He Can Take It, Don’t For a Second Think It Was Not Tony’s Up Both Dick’s and George’s Arseholes
Sorry if that may surprise you, I tried to write it using british petroleum jelly (much cheaper than branded vaseline)
Tony
technicolor
I doubt there is really a u in your handle
All the radio stations across the UK, are now brodcasting the original unedited version of The Christmas Number 1 from Rage Against The Machine (An American Band We Have Adopted Here in The UK)
The Songs Bits That are Edited Out For The American Audience – Because Thay Couldn’t Possibly Understand Such a Concept Unlike Us English and Most of Europe – Including Even The Welsh and The Scousers
Goes Like This
(Close Your Eyes If Sensitive)
(Get louder until 9th by which time shouting)
Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.
Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.
Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.
Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.
Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.
Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.
Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.
Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.
FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!
FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!
FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!
FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!
FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!!
FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!!
FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!!
FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!!
MOTHERFUCKER!!!! Ugh!!
Tony
Blair needs to be discredited. More than he needs to be punished, it needs to be shown that these crazy fears are just phantoms of his mind. If he’s punished but not discredited, the fears just live on, and they’re corosive.
Blair needs to be shown for what he is – a damn good actor – whether he knows he’s acting or not.
“More than he needs to be punished, it needs to be shown that these crazy fears are just phantoms of his mind.”
Thanks again. What a day. Night all.
Me too.
Goodnight.
Tony… we all love you and all, but would you please consider switching to water for a bit?
No regrets Mr Blair ?
No regrets for the thousands of innocents that died ? If he is correct in his Christian beliefs I think he might have a bit of a surprise when he meets Peter at the Gate.
“You are incredibly naive … The Well Projected Image Is Not Necessarily True”
Gosh. Thank you for enlightening me, and I hope you won’t mind the sarcasm.
“we all love you and all, but would you please consider switching to water for a bit?” 🙂
I probably *am* naive, but if the story on offer is questionable, why not question it ? I don’t have any truths to sell, I just want to know *why*. (Are there any other News Quiz fans out there ?)
Well, no, that’s not all I want, I also want the big Never Again.
I understand that the UK government is to stop the sale of the ADE-651 to the Iraqis because it doesn’t detect explosives….
and yet, we’re still expected to buy Chillcot when his panel clearly can’t detect bullshit
Mark,
I have got my Visa Card in Front of Me
And I want to Donate £10 to your Children of Iraq Thing
I can do Paypal too
I just fill in the number and click on the button
I do not fill in standing order forms
Sort it out mate
Near the top of the page you do something like this
http://feedingamerica.org/
People have really short attention spans but they will give if its easy
Tony
I’ve put a few snaps up on:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47061115@N02/
I may add a few vidclips if I get time.
Incidentally, I was wearing a RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE T-shirt, but it was far too fricking cold to take m’coat off!
26 January 2010
“UN experts point to widespread use of secret detention linked to counter-terrorism”…
http://tinyurl.com/y93q8uk
How long before this war criminal is properly challenged?
It might be 10 years, but I suspect it’ll be at least that.
Blair will be prosecuted.
30 January 2010
“Kazakhstan’s Uzbek refugees wait in limbo”…
http://tinyurl.com/y9h8h5o
Blair should be locked up in a room with this video on a constant loop…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls3zBL2jPoc
Look. i belong to a club of world leaders. we meet up from time to time to take moral decisions about the world. You mere bureaucrats can question me as long as you like but you’ll never really understand the kind of issues we’re dealing with here.
Can I have my million now. I’ve answered all the questions? For example:
The US President wants to invade an oil-rich country. Question : Should the UK Prime Minister –
1. Check the engine oil in his official car?
2. Put the phone on mute all the time the US President is talking.
3. Put his fingers in his ears when advice is given to him not to join in the invasion?
4. Play scratchcard?
i put a circle round Answer No. 3. The other three answers are obviously silly answers to try and catch you out. So i decided if i didn’t listen to anybody, they wouldn’t ever find out i didn’t know anything about my job.
It’s only 40% you need to get a pass isn’t it, in this stupid exam. i just copied all the answers from George. i didn’t find out till later he’d scored less than me. i don’t even care if i don’t pass. The worst thing that can happen is they kick you out and then you keep on saying you take responsibility so they think you’re sorry and you just hang about annoying people. C’mon guys, let’s go and kick some ass somewhere else. I’m bored with Iraq.
Blair: “The decision I took – and frankly would take again – was if there was any possibility that he could develop weapo
Someone asked if there was a transcript.
If they really want 249 pages of bilge,
it is here.
http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/media/43909/100129-blair.pdf
It was available last night produced at high speed. Pity the people who have to listen to it, transcribe and then print it. They deserve a medal.
“Have they no memory? Don’t they remember their own plans and measures? Have they forgotten that by these meassures they have left no stone standing upon stone? What kind of people must they be to go on raving with this never-cooling, feverish ardour, year in, year out, of things which are non-existent, of themes which have long vanished, and to know nothing, see nothing, of the reality which surrounds them?”
– Boris Pasternak: Dr Zhivago