Brown: Iraq war not about WMDs

Gordon Brown today gave the Chilcot Inquiry his own reason why Britain went to war in Iraq – and it was not because he believed Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
He said Britain’s original intention in preparing for war had been to show potential aggressor states that the “international community” was determined to act [...]

Jack Straw: Iran ‘not bogeyman of Middle East’

Jack Straw distanced himself from Tony Blair yesterday when he told the Iraq Inquiry that it would be “simplistic” to think that Iran was the “bogeyman” of the Middle East.
The justice secretary, who was foreign secretary in 2003, told the inquiry in his second appearance that Iran had not invaded any country and he did [...]

Reid blames Vietnam syndrome for lack of reconstruction in Iraq

John Reid, the former Secretary of State for Defence, had an interesting take on the Vietnam syndrome today when he suggested to the Chilcot Inquiry panel that the United States was unprepared to “rebuild” Iraq after the invasion because there were Vietnam War veterans among the US senior military command who wanted no part in [...]

Short ‘jeered at’ by Cabinet for questioning Iraq war

Former Secretary of State for International Development, Clare Short, gave evidence to Chilcot Inquiry
Alleges smear campaign against UN weapons inspector Hans Blix
Says she was ‘misled’ by Attorney General
‘Jeered at’ in Cabinet when she questioned war

Clare Short, the former Secretary of State for International Development, said today she had warned Tony Blair of the dangers of [...]

Army did not have enough time to prepare for Iraq war – Stirrup

ir Jock Stirrup’s evidence at the Chilcot Inquiry today was as professional as Tony Blair’s was devious.
Though we are no closer to knowing for sure who was to blame for the shortage of body armour and other equipment that led to unnecessary deaths in Iraq, the armed force’s chief’s assertion that Britain’s deeper involvement in [...]

Clare Short says Blair’s Iraq testimony ‘ludicrous’

Clare Short, the former secretary of state for International Development, thinks journalists went overboard in admiring Tony Blair’s performance at the Chilcot Inquiry.
To describe a politician as astute or clever, however, is not the same as saying that he or she is a person of integrity or competence. Far from it.
We know what politicians are about, they’ve been around for centuries in [...]

Mowlam adored but was Blair not once Britain’s ‘best-loved politician’?

Two thoughts about last night’s very watchable Channel 4 drama, Mo, written by Neil McKay, directed by Philip Martin and based on the life of the late Labour politician and Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam.
One: excellent though Toby Jones was in playing Mowlam’s doctor, Mark Glaser, there was something distracting and almost confusing about his [...]

Stars line up for ‘Chilcot – The Movie’ (well, not quite yet)

If Oliver Stone can make a film about George Bush’s Presidency and Stephen Frears can make a flick about Tony Blair’s phone calls to The Queen then Hollywood executives should be greenlighting Chilcot – The Movie before their next power breakfast in Malibu.
In terms of the genre, a film adaptation of The Chilcot Inquiry [...]

First WMDs, then regime change, now 9/11: Blair’s story shifts again

For Tony Blair, reality is whatever he believes it to be, at whatever moment he chooses to believe it. One has to sift through a plethora of self-justifications, half-truths and finger-pointing to get to the truth, but it is there, if you look for it.
However, his performance at the Chilcot Inquiry today was that [...]