RELATED Blair ‘TRIAL’ posts
Comment at end
28th June, 2009
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
SECOND – THE BAD
THE ‘BRAINWASHED’ PUBLIC & HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY
Part 2 of 3. See also -
I am also using a Times article for the second instalment of ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly’, aka the British press. NOT because it is one of the worst of the newspapers as far as Blair is concerned, but because it is usually one of the fairest. Even The Times could not resist proclaiming as FACT that the secret inquiry first mooted by Brown was all Blair’s machinations. The fact that Mr Brown too might have preferred “secret” for all sorts of reasons was ignored completely in their article.
NOT ONLY, BUT ALSO …
To back up their hardline on Blair’s behind-the-scenes malevolent and selfish ifluence they also throw in the supportive point of “new evidence” on the existence or otherwise of Saddam’s WMDs. This is meant to confirm to those still needing confirmation that the former prime minister has been “lying” all along and thus should be discredited and uncovered for what he is, trial … inquiry or no inquiry. And so, like the simple souls that we are, we are led to swallow en masse the poison.
This new evidence is nothing of the sort, and has been around for years. In itself it proves and will prove NOTHING.
The Times’ commenters too are indicative of the uphill battle Mr Blair has just to be heard, far less believed. So diverse and varied are the slings and arrows pointing in his direction that even if he disproves several accusations his atackers will have umpteen more weapons in their well-loaded quiff to bellow “cover-up”.
The Times and the rest of the press currrently feed this.
Times Article follows:
Tony Blair faces calls to appear at public Iraq war inquiry after plan backfires
Tony Blair is said to have expressed fears that the inquiry could become a 'show trial' (John Thys/AFP/Getty Images)
By Sam Coates, Chief Political Correspondent, The Times, 22nd June 2009
Tony Blair faces calls to appear at public Iraq war inquiry after plan backfires
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.
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said this morning that the former Prime Minister cannot appear behind closed doors and must speak under oath. Otherwise “people [will] feel this is just a grand cover-up for, after all, what was the biggest foreign policy mistake this country has made since Suez”.
Jack Straw, who was Foreign Secretary in the lead up to the Iraq war, said he was more than happy to appear in public, adding “I’m sure [Mr Blair] is too.”
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.
Paraphrasing the President’s comments at the meeting, Sir David noted: “The start date for the military campaign was now pencilled in for March 10. This was when the bombing would begin.”
The memo also suggested that Mr Blair and Mr Bush contemplated other scenarios that might trigger a second UN resolution, legitimising military action in case UN weapons inspectors failed to find WMD.
Mr Bush told Mr Blair that they had developed plans to draw Iraq into combat by flying “U2 reconnaissance aircraft painted in UN colours over Iraq with fighter cover”. If Saddam Hussein fired at the planes, it would put the Iraqi leader in breach of UN resolutions.
In public at this time, Mr Blair was justifying plans for an invasion on the grounds that Iraq might have weapons of mass destruction.
Philippe Sands, a law professor and human rights campaigner, said that the existence of such evidence made it vital that the inquiry was not held in private.
READ THE COMMENTS
(NOTE: I have copied this as already published in The Mail. If anyone wishes me to remove their name, please contact me at this page. I will NOT publish your comment, unless you ask me too, but I will remove any name which does NOT wish to be associated with a site called “Tony Blair”. I understand. I think.)
1. Do you think Blair will tell the truth no matter what oath he is bound under??
wherethereishope, Hobart, Tasmania
2. Of course he must appear in public as it was entirely Blair’s war.
d.sloan, edinburgh, scotland
3. And he wants to be President of the EU? Incredible. He’s the reason I left Britain in 2003. I was so ashamed….
Roderick Low, Creysse , France
Let’s move on, guys, so I can fool some more poor saps, er, I mean save the world.
Tony Blair, London,
5. Of course he wants his testimony to be hidden from the rest of the world, including us. Many of our good servicemen and women lie dead because of this faked war.
If he tells the truth he will never be President of the EU, if he is shown to lie he will be forced out of politics altogether.
Marie, Plymouth, UK
6. Call Blair, make him explain himself in public.
Nathan Stevens, London, United Kingdom
7. Reasons to hold a public enquiry. ‘So we may learn lessons’. How many times have we heard this statement from MPs. It infuriates me. As we can see from the expenses scandle, they do not learn lessons. The sooner we get a gereneral election the sooner we can get these jackasses out.
Gerry, London, UK
8. Until Tony Blair apologises properly and faces the humiliation of admitting to an illegal war, dictators will use his as a malign precedent to do wrong.
Jonathan, Hertford, UK
9. That inquiry has to be public. They ignored us when we marched in the streets in our millions so they had best have a damned good reason for spending our healthcare money on missiles. Dont allow the poloticians to wriggle out again; lets put them up before the law and try to find some truth in this.
Peter Simmons, London, Uk
10. Is it just imagination, or photoshop’s tricks?
Doesn’t Mr Blair look so very old in John Thys photograph?
A spent force?
Yesterday’s man?
Fading into oblivion?
So many questions with no satisfactory answers.
jim Ballantyne, sandhurst, UK
11. War is one county (dictators, governments) using force to steal from another country.
This is something you expect from a fare right country (usually against its own people).
The people that cause them should be punished for the killing of humans for their materialist greed.
War should be unacceptable in the 21st century.
James Hallyburton, Pickering, UK
12. Maybe, just ,maybe the thruth will come out in this enquiry about the death of Dr. David Kelly. However it will end up the same as the Hutton enquiry. A cover up.
Alister Campbell MUST appear. He was the power behind the throne of King Tony & Queen Cherie. He was the ideas man.
Joan
Joan, Tennessee, , USA
13. For those of us who are hoping Blair will finally get his well-deserved comeuppance, he wasn’t nicknamed Teflon Tony without good reason.
John Graham, Shaftesbury, Dorset
14. Reduce the scope of the enquiry and this reduces the time taken – the military and rebuilding aspects can be dealt with separately
We are not talking a minor event here
A million dead
Several million displaced
A country devastated
$Trillions wasted
For what?
Revenge?
Pride?
Oil?
R Bingham, Lauzun, France
15. Blair said he has done what he beleived was correct,parrently it was not so why not have him on trial like every one else.
Government was clearly mislead the public with regards to the motives.It was all to to do with the regiem change & black gold “oil nothing else. NO Wepons of mass destruction
mano1000, romford, uk
16. the public know there is a lot of dumb MP’s who also followed Blair blindly into war without so much as an ounce of respect for the people they are paid to represent
liam, aberdeen, scotland
17. Blair found it easy to go along with Bush: Neither of them had to put their lives, or the lives of their families on the line. If those deciding on war were asked to fight them, history would need to be re-written from the start.
Derek Clifton, Andover, Hamoshire, England
18. Not just Blair, but Campbell, Mandleson and anyone intimately involved. This is an inquiry where thousands have died in whats looks a needless war, all in the name of oil.
Either we have Freedom of Information or we dont and if it turns in to a show trial then so be it!
Robert D Marshall, London, UK
19. Blair is more interested in making a few more millions from his book and speaking arrangements than bothering about more than 100 servicemen who have lost their lives in Iraq.
David, Wimborne,
20 I was hoping that we’d seen and heard the last of this despicable man Blair. He’s a war criminal who is responsible for the deaths of our soldiers and thousands of Iraqi soldiers and civilians. His actions are also the reasons for terrorism in Britain. Get him in the dock!
Paul Savage, Lambourn, Berkshire
21. We should have a public enquiry before a much more diverse panel of judges than those on offer and Jack Straw should be called to give evidence under oath about his extravagant claims about the existence of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction.’
Paul Underwood, Ruislip, England
22. How do you know when a politician lies? Their mouth moves.
Kate, Newcastle, England
23. Everyone seems to have forgotten the death of Dr David Kelly.
Janet Waterfall, XATIVA, Spain
24. It is time to prove that without any doubt that this was an illegal war and that Tony Blair did everything possible to take us into this war.
In my opinion he is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people and destbilized the whole area.
Barry Reed, Hounslow, UK
25. Who cares – this will be a greater white wash than Hutton, whatever way it goes !!!!!
IAN PAYNE, WALSALL,
26. Blair must face this enquiry,it was his decision to lead us into this war.Their was a team in Iraq prior to the war who had found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction.The vast majority of decent people in this country did not agree with this invasion and still dont.
duncan, st.albans, uk
Cont:
I don’t think we really ‘owe’ aquiescence to whatever America says beause of the events of over 40 years ago. As for the saving ourselves from invasion bit, from whom?
P.S. It helps to disguise the fact you’re American if you refer to the country you pretend to belong to in the 1st person.
William, Blackburn, UK
27. Blair should be made to comment at the enquiry. He was the PM at the time and basically it was his decision to go to war. How can he avoid an appearance? The public have right to know why our soldiers died in Iraq!
Robert, Hartlepool, UK
28. You know, that Guy Fawkes chappie was onto something.
Surely the current flavour of democracy in the house of commons is ripe for another total act of defiance.
Joe, Geelong, VIC Australia
29. History has a bad habit of cooking its own babies. I hope Tony Blair will be richly rewarded for his past achievements, certainly not show- trialling and sending him to the gallows. That will be a terrible mistake. Even David Cameron the Conservatives leader favours Blair for EU presidency.
John, Southampton, UK
30. I find it hard to believe that it makes any difference these days whether evidence is taken under oath or not. Are you allowed \to tell porkies as long as you are not under oath. That would seem to be the message!
Brian Lewis, Manila, Philippines
31. Of course he should appear at the enquiry. If he has nothing to hide, he has nothing to be concerned about. However, given his track record so far, I doubt he will come within cooee of the enquiry. This man believes he is some latter-day Messiah, well above the laws that govern the rest of us.
Colin Cumner, Adelaide, South Australia
32. Let’s have our say, Blair had his way for the term of his premiership, let’s have ours now. This is what we get for having a second rate car salesman as our PM. Aftrer him, even Brown should’ve appeared halfway able. Do you’re job Brown and hang on until after the Irish have been bullied into a yes.
Jim, Brierley Hill,
33. I hope the British people, and the present government understand that ex PM Tony Blair should be let off the hook this time. Helping America was the right thing to do. By doing so, the British people are helping and perhaps saving themselves from a future invasion of this island country.
William, Stratford Upon Avon, UK
34. The simple fact is this country owes an ocean of debt to US. Remember WW2, when Britain was at her darkest hours? And remember the Falkland when Thatcher asked for America’s OK and support before going to war with Argentina? The US saved Britannia from defeat by the Nazi. Blair had to stand by US.
William, Stratford Upon Avon, UK
35. rember blair stating that the killers of the omagh bombing would be caught and no stone would be left unturned to find them?its taken a private prosecution to get justice in the way of finacial penalties.blair all mouth no trousers
mike, peterborough, uk
36. SO WHEN ARE WE GOING TO STOP TALKING AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?
Joe, Lincolnshire, UK
37. Modern politicians regard themselves as above the law. They can libel and lie in Parliament with impunity. Their murky financial shenanigans are protected by arcane rules and customs. Their reputation can only be restored by subjecting them to the same standards and procedures as everybody else.
Peter Cressall, La Lucila, Argentina
38. We all know Sadam had WMD. He gassed the Kurds. UN definition, I repeat, UN definition, one more time, read, mustard gas is a WMD. Fact, fact, fact. I know you all want to go backward and cry about what? Iraq? A country that is in far better shape then Iran when it comes to freedom?
jefCostello, Jasper, USA
39. There’s no such thing as an illegal war, unless you lose (and by lose I mean sign a surrender document). As for the Army dead, something less than 200 so far. Compare that with Day 1 of WW1. They were soldiers, they get paid, they obey orders, they fight, they kill, they die. Get over it.
SeaBee, Pinner, UK
40. Can we re define the meaning for what is meant by W.M.D blair brand before starting the the public inquiry. I am sure blair will be interested in my idea!!
Roberto , Readiing, Berks
41. In deference to the hundreds of British DEAD … and the expenditure of Tax Payers mony … Mr Blair MUST be called to appear before a full and accountable Public examination. He used Public money … so he must explain his use of it. He MUST be publicly accountable.
David Michael, London, UK
42. The war was right; removing Saddam was right; bringing Democracy to Iraq was right; fighting Islamic fundamentalism is right.
Guy from London… You come right out of a comic book.
Michael, Malvern, UK
43. Oh Yes get Blair up there…wipe that “joker” grin of his face.
Steve Byrne, Christchurch,
44. You can bet that he will only be asked questions which don’t compromise him. Remember the other enquiries, they are all form and no substance, just a charade prior to closing the book forever. They may govern us badly but they sure know how to look after themselves.
Scott, Bangkok, Thailand
45. I saw Blair discuss Iraq on the Jon Stewart Show last year. It was embarassing. He had no regrets but was badly informed about the Islamic world. He lumped all the different factions together and implied they shared a common agenda. He maintained that invading Iraq was necessary because of 9/11.
mike, NY, USA
46. So, Brown is saying, basically, that it is because of a previous Conservative decision, over a different enquiry, that he has decided to have the énquiry’ in private.
We haven’t yet heard what his father would say, but no doubt we will. Will the prime minister never leave home?
Robin Paine, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
47. Allow him to speak… and he may even become the next prime minister…
RafC, Cardiff, UK
48. The net is closing in on Blair. Given he has nothing to do with government in this country it’s an absolute cheek that he should put pressure on Brown to hold the enquiry in secret. This could scupper his chances of being President of Europe, come on Gord either call a referendum or an open enquiry
Dr Ian Burgess, Long Ashton,
49. The war was right; removing Saddam was right; bringing Democracy to Iraq was right; fighting Islamic fundamentalism is right.
Where the UK and US screwed up was not planning for the “peace” after the war.
If I was Blair I’d refuse to turn up to the enquiry and let the anti-war pacifists stew
Guy, London, UK
50. I’ll book my seat now
T Trebilcock, MANCHESTER, uk
“…to get him elected to the EU Presidency.”
Peter, dont scare us like that. And I guess an other way of disposing of Blair will have to be found. To much “weasel” and “old europe” talk and to many lies. People here and I assume also in France have not forgotten…
Sven, Stuttgart, Germany
51. Blair at “Public war enquiry?”……It should be public flogging.
judy, Liverpool, England
Does anyone remember that election poster with the red eyes? Illuminated prunes perhaps.
Purgative Majority, UK,
52. By the time any enquiry gets going the Irish will have voted FOR the Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty will have been ratified. Blair will be President of Europe. Brown, who will resign just after the Irish vote, will be European Finance Minister.
Remember that it’s now illegal to criticise the EU….
BaiDaLong, Beijing, China
53. Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear! It looks like Tony Blair may have to face a war crimes court eventually after all. If it is shown the allies invaded Iraq illegally then Blair has to face a war crimes court for his actions.
Stephen, St. Ives, England
54. Oh, and – subpeona the witnesses.
Expect a sudden application for US citizenship from Blair.
JohnAnt, London, UK
55. It was his messianic zeal that drove him forward, despite all the evidence and experts advising a more cautious approach. The country deserves closure, but given his ability to mask emptiness in rhetoric, I doubt we will get it.
Duncan, London, United Kingdom
56. I’d like to visit one of Saddam’s underground palaces.
Adrian, London,
57. Let me know when bLiar is scheduled to appear on TV, then I can “pencil” the date on my calendar. I think it may rank up there with a sqirmy thing in a squirmy competition……
Andrew, Wrexham, UK
58. Blair should be brought to account over this war. It should be in the public eye. We had and are still suffering many casualties day by day and to what end? The American ideological view of democracy? We can’t walk away and leave it now as we’ve interfered. Lessons need to be learnt.
Robert, Hartlepool, UK
59. Seems the Dutch are also holding an enquiry…….(in the open) and due to report before Chilcott…SO..it’ll be interesting firstly,to see if this memo ever sees the light of dayand secondly, how they explain away the dutch inevitable references to the memo referred to above.
Finally Gotcha Tony
RUSSELL MORRISON, INVERNESS, SCOTLAND
60. We don’t need to spend ten years at a public enquiry, getting to the bottom of things.
Put Blair on TV with Paxman for a couple of hours and the British people will have their answer.
R Wilson, Whitchurch, Hampshire
61. Evenif Saddam had weapons of mass destruction Bush and Balir ignored rhe UN and went to war after persuading parliament to agree. Therefore blair has to stand in the open and answer for what he did
Kenneth Keane, Apremont Vendee, France
62. Blair won’t want to appear before the Inquiry as this could scupper his and New Liebour’s plans to get him elected to the EU Presidency.
PETER MARTIN, Hull,
63. How will history look upon Britain? If you were a historian, what would you label this era as? I hope my kids won’t inherit a world where they’ll be pleading for General Elections, only to be ignored.
Alex, London,
64. Important though this is, is it not just further obfuscation from the fundamental requirement that we have an election? David Cameron can organise an enquiry after he wins.
“John”, .,
65. Blair was very much at the centre of the decision to go to war. After all he was Prime Minister at the time. I wish the enquiry could also call in Bush, Chaney & Rumsfeld should be included also. Courtesy of our Treaty with the US they can haul in Bankers & Hackers to US courts but not vice versa
John Goode, Welwyn Garden City, UK
Tags: Iraq inquiry, The Times, Tony Blair
June 29, 2009 at 10:59 am |
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June 29, 2009 at 1:52 pm |
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June 30, 2009 at 12:14 am |
Hello Blogger;
Consider, if you will, that it is highly probable there is a rouge faction controlling Blair via Israel, that is the enemy, the aggressor, the enslaver of the whole world;
“Turn away from the false teachings of the Israelite authorities (Those who have hijacked Palestine and now wish to control the whole planet?) and their scribes, because they will bring destruction to successive generations.
The Israelites believe themselves the chosen people. By no means is this the case, because they are more disloyal and unknowing than the ignorant who lack the secret of Creation’s laws”.
“The Israelites have ravaged this land through plunder and murder, they have killed their friends with whom they had drunk wine, and they have deceived and misled their fellow believers of the Jewish cult, who are truly not Israelites but merely believers in a cult.
Thus the Israelites betrayed their own friends and murdered them because of their greed, but it shall likewise be done to them by the rightful owners of this land whom they have deprived of their rights and subjugated since ancient times.”
- The Talmud of Jmmanuel, the gospel of The Christ manifestation on earth that the Pharisees do not wish for us to read (appears to have been banned in some countries) can be found on my Ancient Wisdom page.
But why is this faction being allowed to create such bellicose behavior around the world? Is it really about greed or power? Or is it part of a perfect plan, they are the catalyst to restore the service-to-others orientation within the soul of humanity as Hidden_Hand (Lucifer) claims?
Ahmadinejad never said he wished to wipe the people of Israel off the face of the map. The controlled media used sound bites to create what was heard in order to give themselves cause to overthrow the Iranian government and confiscate its oil as they had done in Iraq and other various countries; http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/169.html
The possible truth regarding the Iranian election; http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14018
If we do not read to understand material outside of the control matrix, we then have nothing to stand on but more of our own speculations based on the disinformation created by the controlled medias and our own bias.
I will not be returning to this post. Therefore, if you have comment regarding mine, please use the Contact Us on my website,
Namasté,
Travis
June 30, 2009 at 12:49 am
Glad to see you won’t be returning, Travis.
I have to tell you that I hold conspiracy theorists in utter contempt. You should not assume that I do not read the nonsense spoken by the religious nutters of this world. (I don’t include Mr Blair in that cateogory, btw, or the Israelis or most Muslim people.)
Know your enemy is my mantra.
And no, I don’t accept that there is the slightest chance that Lucifer (aka ISRAEL) is the guiding hand behind Blair.
I outgrew accepting ancient scripts written by primitive peoples as a young adult. They prove nothing except that religion has been twisted by controlling forces in all religions since man first (probably) invented it.
(You see, I don’t agree with Mr Blair on everything.)
But I DO agree with you on the influence of the press, thus my recent posts.
As for Ahmadinejad – don’t like him, don’t trust him – just as it seems many of his people don’t. But let’s see how it all pans out in Iran. Perhaps it will be proved that he did win fairly and squarely. If so, let’s see how he and the Supreme Leader accommodate the dissatisfaction within their country.