Tony Blair faces calls to appear at public Iraq war inquiry after plan backfires

[cal04]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6548155.ece

Tony Blair tried to stop the Iraq war inquiry being held in public as new evidence emerged suggesting that he knew Saddam Hussein may not have weapons of mass destruction.

The former Prime Minister lobbied Sir Gus O’Donnell, the head of the Civil Service, fearing that a public appearance at the inquiry, headed by Sir John Chilcott, could turn into a “show trial”.

The move appears to have backfired this weekend, as it emerges that part of the inquiry will now be heard in public and Mr Blair is the focus of calls to appear.

(snip)
This news comes amid new evidence to suggest that Mr Blair knew that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.

A memo dated January 31, 2003, by Sir David Manning, then Mr Blair’s policy adviser, outlines how President Bush told Mr Blair he had decided on a start date for the war — almost two months before the invasion.

[malaise]

1. Good news

Blair is a war criminal.

[rurallib]

2. Maybe, just maybe one of these fuckers will pay.

And maybe, just maybe evidence will come out about Boosh&cheney that can't be ignored.

[WCGreen]

5. This is "merica, ain't nuthin' gonna happin to Presydent Boosh...

[Iwillnevergiveup]

3. Go ahead, Tony

be a name-dropper.

[Gregorian]

4. If they killed Dr. Kelley over this, then I doubt they'll tell the truth under oath.

But as long as we keep them under pressure, sooner or later we'll get what we need for prosecution.

These are the most dangerous and damaging criminals on earth. Not the Charles Mansons. It's the Blairs and Bushs of the world.

I know I'm generalizing and jumping to conclusions. But I think that's what is missing. People died because of these guys.

[Diclotican]

6. Gregorian

Gregorian

It was an saying home, that the truth will always come out.. Even if you lied very good, the truth will came out sooner or later.. And with mr Blair, it have been a lot of lying, and a lot of hiding of the truth.. Now it might be that mr Blair would be asked the tu ff questions, and must answer for what he claimed before the Iraq war, who in fact was just a big dam lie..

And it is true, event hat Charles Manson's of the world indeed are dangerous, the Blairs and Bushes, of the world is far more dangerous, because the Manson's of the world would sooner or later be arrested, and put behind bars.. The Blair and Bushes of the world, could make a living hell for everyone as long as they want it to be hell.. And even go free, because the "evidences is to bad" to hold up in cort.. And that very few governments of the world have that habit of arresting and convicting their own presessors... Even if their crimes is clear to se to everyone who have to Aye and some brain to thing with..

Diclotican

[Gregorian]

7. I watched the British House of Commons tonight.

It was the Speaker's last night of questions before resigning. The intense struggle between the conservatives and Labour is seemingly unswaying. I think it explains why we don't see more prosecutions of our elected representatives who commit crimes. There aren't many who think Charles Manson deserves to be free, or who doubt that he helped commit the murders. But not unlike the tug of war in the House of Commons, there are conservatives in this country who would rather see Cheney go free than risk the damage to the Republican party. Or to their own perception of the party. The truth be damned. Pinochet had his supporters right up to his death. There aren't many Manson supporters. Yet these bigger criminals do make our world a far worse place than any small time murderer. How many could Manson have killed versus the deaths in just Iraq alone by the Bush administration.

And then there is our press. Or maybe we should call them the "suppress". Haha.

I want to be optimistic. I think Americans are a lazy and less educated population than is needed for the vigilance required in order to fulfill the Constitution's potential. I put the blame on us. There are a few who carry a lot of weight. So perhaps we will see justice. This is a new age of information technology. Maybe that will be decisive.

[Diclotican]

8. Gregorian

Gregorian

True, dam the truth, even if the truth Will came out sooner or later anyway. It should be more easy to get the truth out once, and for all. Because we _Know_ that someone was lying, quiet bad lying before the Iraq War.. And we know how to get the guilty one to admit they might have screwed it up, big time...

But some doesn't want the truth coming out, because it would harm what they want to believe them self.. And I would say, Conservative very seldom want to get the reality in their face.. As one other I know, who is fairy conservative - and he is living in the states by the way, he claim with deadly curiosity that everyone, included Rachel Maddow, Keith Oldermann and so on was to the left of Fidel Castro and Chawez... And even that I the last couple of years have tried to reason with him, and even proved for him who silly his actions have been, to support mr Bush, and the neo con world he still believe that mr Bush and the neo-cons was right all along, and that the "liberal media" are to blame because the fact of the ground is not what he believed it to be. And instead of say, I got it wrong, he still grasp to what he believe, and never want to give it up...

Many supporters of mr Pinochet claimed him to "save Chile from the evil of communism": The fact is that Pinochet was an military dictator, who killed thousands, maybe ten of thousands of his own country men and woman. Who made refugees of a lot of his own country men, and who deserved what he might was given after he died.. If someone deserved to get to a really dark and painfully place, mr Pinochet would be a great candidate, with the likes of Pol Pot, Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler - and when times comes, also to mr Cheney, Mr Rumsfeld, ms Rice and many others who I do not know yet... But who lurk in the dar corners of the neo-conservative world Many who might never se the cort room, but something is maybe more punishable on the other side than here...

Americans is lazy, many of them just doesn't want to rock the boat necessary to get the truth out. It is far more easy to sit down, and believe that everything is totally "Oki-doki" and that US is nr One in the world - Even that every ting else would prove them wrong if they dared to get out of US sometimes... Your country have a amazing possibility if you want it. If any country on the face of the world can raise the world out of hunger, out of misery, out of wars, it is the US.. But instead of using your amazing power for good, you wnd up been selfish, greedy, and not at least stupid.. Until mr Bush was "elected" in 2000, I tend to believe that most americans was reasonable, and that regress of what you might do you would always end up doing the Right thing. But when you elected that clown, and REELECTED THE same stupid man after 4 year, with an miserable past, and two wars US could not possible win... Then I lost a lot of my belief in US.. And it Will take a long time before my belief in US is there again... If they ever got back to old habits... US is an amazing country, with a lot of good people.. But your government... Specially the right wing type of government... They are scary, and dangerous. And Will possible ruin your country to the brink of total ruin..

And anyway, it Will take US a long time to recover from mr Bush and his Neo Conservative ideology.. It took mr Bush jr 8 year to get uS to what it is today... And I hope for the good of everything we have common that the americans NEVER again wrote in another dumb ass as mr Bush, and never again vote in the neo-conservatives.. They would go over bodies to profit. And they would happily make world war 3 if they shoos it... I would say that the american neo-conservative is like the Nazis of the 1930s.. Dangerous, and evil.

Diclotican

[Gregorian]

9. Thank you so much for your care and concern, even though you live elsewhere.

I was fortunate enough to grow up under very kind and intelligent parents. But there are those who are not so intelligent. They use a theory in place of practice. And this is what causes us so much trouble. Those who think Pinochet may have saved their country from communism would change their minds in an instant if they were the ones being persecuted.

In practice, we are all one. On a tiny speck of dust in a huge huge universe. I recently lost two of my beloved pet partners. I still mourn. But the other day I realized that when we were born, we were born into the planet earth. And when we die, would they die to a place other than where I go when I die? We will die to the same place as well. Which tells me that we are not going to get away from each other. And something tells me that unless this universe is evil, there will be scrutiny. There will be recognition of crimes, as well as forgiveness. After all, what else is there? We are one whether we want it or not. And so on earth it should be the same. There is no choice. The Pinochet's are fools. They don't see the truth. They want separation, difference. A little melanin, a different thought on sharing wealth cannot be such a divisive concept.

Lies are obvious. I knew Scott Ritter and Hans Blix were telling the truth. How on earth could Iraq have been a threat after a dozen years of hideous sanctions. We killed them without bombs. And then we attacked them. There may not be a hell, but there will be scrutiny for all to see. And I think that is the hell they speak of.

Love is not a sin. Sharing wealth does not make us poor. But what the conservatives do, mostly conservative authoritarian mindsets, is they theorize and project fear and hate. The domino theory in Asia. That was pure bullshit. And how many people died in that war? I believe that there is practice and there is theory. And in a three dimensional world, there is only practice. One could argue that the periodic table of elements was created from theory, but I still say that all of our inventions and discoveries are from practice. Theory exists, but to use it as a tool toward division is evil. It is only a means of moving from thought to reality. We have people in jails because of drugs. And how is it that nicotine is legal. This is an example of the hypocrisy of this kind of mindset.

Well, I better start my day here. I hope I haven't blabbed too much nonsense! :)

[Diclotican]

10. Gregorian

Gregorian

I was also very lucky to grow up, in a family where I had some good parents, even that they was not my biological parents, they was at least _there_ and they learned me one thing, not belive things just becouse someone tell you it is true.. Check it out for yourself, and get an independed wiew of things... Even that no one of them was extreme high educated, they was proberly more educated, than most others.. My fosterfather exemple, was could have been doctor, if someone had sponsered him when he was finish with school.. This was in the hard 1930s, and our welfare system we have build up after the ww2 was just in its infancy.. And he needed a sponsor to get him into university. He never got into the university, had to get out and work, and he was somewhat sad about that - But he continued to be verry scooled, and he could also rembember what he had read, many year before. Sadly enough he get altzeimer, and he was forgetting everything in the end.. Thankfully (a sort of) he died peacefully withouth mutch pine two years ago... Even that I do miss him, becouse he is maybe the closest I have ever had a real father even that I know my biological father, and have visited him many times, it was not the same as my fosterfather.. And I belive my biological father understand that to, even that it hurt him bad.. He and my fosterfather was not exactly aye to aye for a reason or another...

I can't understand why someone vould say mr Pnochet was a liberator of Chile. He wa just another dictator, and should have been punished by the Chilian goverment.. Not be worshiped as an hero. But even today, many chilence is little afraid of talking about the past, specially between 1973 and 1988 when he was requlishing his power, to a somewhat democratic government... And even today the military have still a influensial role in the parlament, and the selv restain they have is becouse the sivilian government do not exactly are going after the really big fish in Chile, who absolutely was doing bad things in the name of "freedom"...

You can allways se the truth, and allways se the lie, even that the lie sometimes is verry dificult to discover, it is there allways.. And it was not dificult to se that the whole Iraq affair was based on lies, lies and a lot more lies... Mr Ritter, and mr Blix was more my cop of tea, becouse they told the truth as they was seeing it.. have some books where Ritter and BLix was telling their side of the story. And specially with Ritter I could FEEL the anger about the lies he was represented with..

Iraq was attaced by lies, and everyone who had a brain should understand that the Iraq war a war of revange, not to protect US or the West.. Mr Bush say it himself, when he say "hey, this is the man who tried to kill my father".. I would say THAT was one of the core reasons Mr Bush wanted to go to war.. REVENGE. And a lot of oil... But the revenge have going sour, and I would say that oil have been somewhat more expensive than the neo-cons belived it to be.. No one want to be occupied, and the iraqis is no expection from that rule..

Sharing wealth, and love is one of the big ways we humans go forward as a spesies I would guess.. And I would say that most conservatives also love and is willing to share the wealth - becouse they tend to understand it is important to share some of the wealth.. But I am maybe thinking from an european side what conservative is.. I would say that your "conservative" side is on the fair right Looking from our side of the pound. Specially your right wing would be classified as right wing in most european country I guess. Your moderate conservative, would maybe been seeing as "conservative" in most european coutry.. I belive most europeans tend to be little more to the left, than in US.. Even that I do are fairy conservative myself, I would defiently been seeing as "Left" in most conservative groups in the US..

The Domino Theory in Asia, where Vietnam war was the nr one for many years was a tragedy, both for the 58.000 americans who killed, but also for the 3 million vietnameses who also was killed, the thousands of unknown from other country bordering Vietnam, and not least Cambodia where Pol Pots nightmare was trying it best to kill 1.3 million cambodians to make room for the "Perfect agreare country".. First in 1979, when Vietnam was trowing Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge out of power the nightmare stoped.. WHo many millions who was killed becouse of the cold war are also unknown, but I fear it was in the millions.. How many new Mozarts, Einsteins and so one was killed under the cold war?.. And for what reason?...

You are so right, I doubt that the universe vould be that evil that you are not keeping a tab of, for what you have been doing when you live. And that you in many ways would be punished by something when you die.. We are born to this planet Earth, and we are the same, even if our apperance is different.. We are humans all of us, and we have to treat eatch other better than we do today. Maybe when we "grow up" we can look back and understand how folish we was..

And for your pet partnes.. i do belive you would meet them when your time here is up. It is allways sad to loose good friends, who have been there for many year, and who have given you comfort when you needed it most. Animals can be great friends, who give everything for your if you treat them well..Have had a couple of cats myself.. Last year i even had a grown cat and 3 kitten, who I was so lucky to have followed from they was born, on my coatch (thankfylly it is leather, so it was easy to clean it up) to I have to give them away they was 12 weeks old.. Two females and one male kitten. I even gave them name. - my allergy was making me really sick.. And if I have had the time, health and the money I would withouth doubt have keept them all.. I miss them still, even that it was for the best, becouse I was really ill, my asma was not good when I had 4 cats... It was a gift, to have followed them from they was newborn, to they could be given away 12 weeks later.. I was there for their first step, their first poop, their first time out and so on.. I was lucky, very lucky to have been given that gift I would say...

Before that I had two other cants, females both of them, who also was good friends specially Sussa, who was verry close to me becouse the mother was been killed by fox or something like that.. I had the feeling that she belived me to be her "suragote father" of sorts.. And she even walked with my half the way to work, and was sitting there when I was coming home and allmoust crying herself out when she disovered me.. That is SELDOM you experience that with a cat... I rembember one day, when I was making myself a beef dinner, and she wanted it dearly I cut up some beef, and give it to her.. He eate it all, and the rest of the night she was lying belly up, and just "oh, I eat to mutch"... And she loved to go to sleep lying into me in the sofa I rembember.. And she was also found of lying in the bed, with the foot end.. Wel, untill I dreamed I was playing the world finale in Soccker, and kicked the poor cat out of bed and into the wall.. Have to get up then and told here I was sorry about it.. She was sad about it all I guess.. And I belive Norway won the finale too:P OH I can allways dream I guess ;)
I miss my "friends" even that it was not good at all with my allergy, they are far more trustwortly than human tend to be most times.. And I do belive that we will meet our animal friends when we die ourself.. They might be here for a shorter time then we are, but I am sure they are waiting for you, and wil welcome you as an good old friend when your time is up here..
I for one would hope to see both my animal friends, and my human friends/family when my time is up.. Could be nice to meet my biological father again, and have a real, honest schat with him.. Time just wasen't rigt here on earth to take that honest chat where everything was on the table and we can do it, withouth been angry and withouth feeling going in the way.. We might also discover that we have more in comon than we belived here on earth.. And I would also like to se my grandparents, on both sides again.. I was rather young when they died.. 23-24 when my grandmother died. And I never got to know either of them when they lived.. My mother and father was exactly the perfect grown ups, therefore me and my brother was living in fosterhome.. Luckely enough our foster parents was there for us, and we have even today good contact with them.. My fostermother still call both of us "the kids" even than both of us is over 30 year old now:evilgrin: Somewhat I have the feeling we would be "the kids" even if we are over 40 year olds and have kids on our own...

I doubt you ave blabbed to mutch. Sometimes it is good to know some of "the other end" too:)

Diclotican

[Gregorian]

11. I've enjoyed this.

It's late, and I'm going to bed. Your cat stories will always stay with me. I'm glad to have met you here. I'd love to know more about you and your life. I'm just glad we have communicated. That's beauty.