Blair Getting Away With Murder 561


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.


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561 thoughts on “Blair Getting Away With Murder

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  • Ruth

    writerman said,

    ‘The Power State only respects and notices power. The Power State hates democracy, the power of the people, because democracy threatens elite rule; that’s why democracy is being systematically undermined, as the interests of the “ruling class” and the people diverge radically, in a the coming, post-consumer society, in the age of less, not more.

    I absolutely agree but there is pressure on them to maintain the veneer. I also agree with

    ‘The only thing that matters to “ruling class”, isn’t what we say, or think, or write; what matters is what we Do, or if you like, how we act, concrete action. The rest is “insteresting” but is only as long as it doesn’t lead to action.’

    but there is something else they fear and that is exposure of the highly illegal activities they divulge in which includes the theft of taxpayers’ money on a vast scale. I don’t mean MPs’ expenses.

  • anno

    Suhayl

    In some way I think it’s true that some people in the UK are dancing in black leotards on the graves of the dead of Afghanistan. And that will lead to a terrible punishment for them, unless they wake up, repent and stop what they are doing next time, in Iran , Yemen, or wherever else they want to play this murderous game against Islam.

    I don’t believe that the ordinary British soldier has this evil attitude.They see the situation and smell a rat about why they have been sent to Afghanistan.

    Ruth

    Just because I don’t have the evidence, am I being really stupid in thinking that the elite who promote the arms industry and steal the profits are 100% in cahoots with the Zionist failed-bankers who hate Islam?

    The spectacle you raise is that our national deficit, which is the people’s responsibility, can carry on increasing , as in the US, so far as the ruling elite are concerned, so long as money is coming into their pockets for their own ends. There has been a massive re-armament of our forces, contrary to the chatter in parliament. To what extent could the ruling elite handle these vast amounts of money without the total co-operation of the Zionists?

    It seems to me the evidence is plain.The agenda of our present leaders is directed against Islam, because the co-operation of the zionists is needed for their crimes to function. This has been going on for a very long time.

  • Larry from St. Louis

    Notice how Craig does not delete anno’s comments about “Zionist bankers” and “crypto-Jews” and all of that.

  • Arsalan

    Larry

    Zionist doesn’t mean Jew, it means you!

    All true Jews hate Zionism and Israel. Only people like you love Zionism and Israel.

    Go back to the 911 thread and agree with Angry some more.

  • Larry from St. Louis

    Larry’s Law:

    As a thread on Craig Murray’s blog grows longer, the probability of someone writing “Zionist doesn’t mean Jew” approaches 1

  • Mark Golding - Children of Iraq

    Arsalan,

    Speaking of Zionism, I am being bombarded by lengthy emails from the Israeli Foreign Office ([email protected]). He is an extract. (full contents can be forwarded if interested) :-

    The Israeli DJ – cheeky and warm

    “The Israeli DJ has a very warm-feeling mentality, touching and nice. There’s a very human aspect to it, but it’s a little cheeky at the same time. That’s why people find it interesting,” he says. “I think it’s more fun than other electronic music, which can be too serious.”

    With clubs in cosmopolitan world capitals regularly hosting Israeli DJs, it’s not just the patrons who are benefiting. The DJ world has become a channel through which audiences are exposed to another aspect of Israeli culture, says Heilbronner.

    “I think it’s a great boost to Israel to have these DJs spreading the word around the world. I can’t count the number of times people have come up to me and asked if we still ride camels. It’s good to have ambassadors around the world showing what Israel really is,” he says.

    “I think this is true Zionism – to live as every other nation. I think Herzl would have preferred endless partying to endless war.”

  • Mark Golding - Children of Iraq

    Larry,

    What do you know about probability – nothing, because you are a two bit lawyer living off the misfortunes of others. Do you offer a free single session consultancy? – I doubt it. Here, in Britain we have the CAB, it’s free and offers advice to those fallen into life’s miserable gutter. Go play debunking the debunked where you belong.

  • Larry from St. Louis

    “Here, in Britain we have the CAB, it’s free and offers advice to those fallen into life’s miserable gutter.”

    So now you’re taking another stab at anti-Americanism, aren’t you?

    I happen to know someone who moved from NYC to London to start up a pro bono clearinghouse there, as the pro bono work among London law firms didn’t remotely compare to NYC law firms.

    Are you suggesting that there are no legal services for indigent people in the U.S.? Ultimately, how do you think the U.K. would stack up? Why do you presume that British things are always better than American things?

    And why do you keep bringing up Chapter 11 bankruptcy? That seems so non-sequitur that you sound very very strange.

  • Larry from St. Louis

    “you are a two bit lawyer living off the misfortunes of others.”

    You have no evidence either way on that claim.

    “Do you offer a free single session consultancy?”

    Do you even know how many varied fields there are in which a lawyer can practice?

  • glenn

    Vronsky: Nothing wrong with vi – you just need to learn how to use it 🙂 Would you prefer ‘ed’? My first choice of editor is vi every time.

    Larry: Why do you hate America so much?

  • Larry from St. Louis

    “The ch 11 question followed from you telling us your professional status”

    But why didn’t you pick immigration or commercial litigation or construction or labor? Why Chapter 11?

  • Larry from St. Louis

    “Larry: Why do you hate America so much?”

    Don’t hate it; don’t love it. Just feel lucky to be here.

  • Courtenay Barnett

    Either Blair is showing himself an unrepentent imperialist, or someone not partially out of touch with reality, but in his own world (i.e. being acutally touched in the head). You read and decide:-

    “16.26 Sir Lawrence Freedman asks if Iraqis are justified in feeling disenchanted with the occupation, given the bloody seven years they have endured. Blair is more combative and passionate than ever, urging Iraqis to push ahead with democracy and pointing out that the soaring death toll is due to insurgent attacks, not the coalition. He insists that the people of Iraq are better off now than they were in 2001

    Sir Lawrence’s roll call of fatalities provides the most emotional moment of the day so far. He ends the questioning segment by accusing the coalition’s “cavalier planning” of directly leading to civilian deaths. Blair: The fact that terrorists do these terrible things does not mean we should back away from confronting them. You have to be prepared for the long haul and stick with it until the end.

    16.24 Blair says he was left “shocked and angry” by the images of abuse at Abu Ghraib because of the damage it would to do “our cause”. But says that the majority of UK and US troops were risking their lives to help the Iraqi people.”

    Please compare and contrast:-

    1. If the Iraqi government decided that in their honest belief – all Britons should be Muslims, and the only way to bring this about was by an illegal military invasion? – Then?; or

    2. If the British government decides that in their honest belief – all Iraqis should ( on the ostensible excuse that it is “democracy” that the invading forces want to build ….ha..ha… – only if the invading forces approve of the election result like Hati or the Gaza election results) – be “politically converted” by use of force. And, the only way to bring this about was by an illegal military invasion? – Then?

    Murderous bastard!And I am speaking of Blair who has destroyed Iraqi society.

    This answer brings into question, Blair’s sanity and literal loss of touch with reality:-

    “…urging Iraqis to push ahead with democracy and pointing out that the soaring death toll is due to insurgent attacks, not the coalition. He insists that the people of Iraq are better off now than they were in 2001”

  • glenn

    Nice duck, Larry, but you’re not answering the question.

    Why do you hate America so much?

  • glenn

    Why, Larry, simply because of what you post, silly! So – why do you hate America so much?

  • glenn

    Good, Larry… projection is an expedient path in analysis. In this regression, what does your child tell you about why you hate America so much?

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