Last week, the Iraq Inquiry continued in London and, for a change, NPR actually included it in their top of the hour news headlines.
Monday, Jonathan Powell (Tony Blair's Chief of Staff) told the committee that it was shocking that there were no WMDs in Iraq. And if that wasn't the most embarrassing moment, it was only because Sec of Defence (2001-2005) Geoffrey Hoon testified Tuesday and explained really, it was the US' fault -- that whole war thingie -- because, you know, 9-11, it was just so big in the US and there was just this huge support for war as a result.
Iraq was not responsible for 9-11 and there was not huge support for going to war with Iraq. Hoon was a complete liar.
In the US, most are aware of the various lies that Bully Boy Bush used to sell the illegal war. In England, Tony Blair was fond of declaring that Iraq had WMD which they could launch on England in 45 minutes. (The Inquiry has already established that this assertion was known to be false prior to the start of the Iraq War and that Tony Blair should have been informed of that if information followed the chain of communication. Whether it did or not is a question the committee should ask Blair when he appears this week.) So when the Permanent Secretary Security and Intelligence Coordinator (2002 to 2005) testified, this was probably the most interesting exchange.
David Omand: I would interpret that as meaning people saying there isn't enough intelligence in substance, but this isn't going to look very convincing if we are not allowed to show more of it. That's my personal expression -- explanation of why, as it were, people fell on the 45 minutes. At least that was something the Secret Service would allow to be used. With hindsight, one can see that adding a bit of local colour like that is asking for trouble. But we didn't really spot that at the time.
Ormand declares of the 45 minute lie, it was "a bit of local colour."
Thursday the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (2001-2006) Jack Straw testified. It was a I-can't-believe-he's-saying-this-in-front-of-people moment. He claimed UN weapons inspectors had finished their inspections before the Iraq War started (they hadn't, they were forced out when Bush announced the war would start), he claimed "WMD" really didn't mean "Weapons of Mass Destruction." It just meant "missiles" and it was used by mistake. (Repeatedly used but no one challenged Straw.) Chris Ames (Iraq Inquiry Digest) attempted to fact check Straw's fact free testimony. Straw was so comfortable lying, he even cited a reference who could vouch for him -- one who couldn't. As Channel 4 News' Iraq Inquiry Blogger explained, "Odd too when Straw appeared to suggest that the panel take evidence from the late Robin Cook to confirm how he -- Straw -- had always insisted the war only proceed after parliamentary debate."
The Liberal Democrats issued the following after Straw testified:
"Given his central role and all we know about Blair's support for Bush's regime change plans, Straw's claim seems implausible," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary.
Commenting on Jack Straw's appearance at the Iraq Inquiry, Edward Davey said:
"Jack Straw's insistence that he used his 'judgement' rather than solid proof of the existence of WMD is a weak defence of his role in this disastrous war.
"Given his central role and all we know about Blair's support for Bush's regime change plans, Straw's claim seems implausible.
"It is clear that he is desperate to distance himself from Tony Blair's unrepentant belief that he would have got rid of Saddam whatever it took.
"Jack Straw's testimony today also shows that there is no problem with serving Cabinet ministers appearing before the Iraq Inquiry. There is no obstacle to Gordon Brown appearing before the General Election to talk about his role as Chancellor in the run up to and during the Iraq War."
Shortly after that was issued, Gordon Brown leaked that he would be appearing before the committee before England held elections. Friday's hearing began with the following statement from the chair.
Chair John Chilcott: Before I begin, I should like to make a short statement. The Iraq Inquiry that sits before you is an independent committee, dedicated to establishing an account of the UK's involvement in Iraq between 2001 and 2009 and learning lessons for governments facing similar circumstances in the future. Now, from the outset, we have made it clear that we wish to stay outside party politics. Ours is a serious task and we wish to collect our evidence in a way in which our witnesses will be open about what happened and give their evidence fully without the hearings beging used as a platform for political advantage by any party. It was for this reason that my colleagues and I made a decision announced before Christmas, that we would not call ministers currently serving in posts relevant to Iraq until after the election. The Prime Minister wrote to me earlier this week to say that he was preapred to give evidence whenever we saw fit. In my reply to the Prime Minister yesterday evening, I said that, as a matter of fairness, the committee concluded we should offer the Prime Minister, if he wished to take it up, the opportunity for him, for David Miliband, as Foreign Secretary, and Douglas Alexander, Development Secretary, to attend hearings before the general election. The Prime Minister replied to me this morning to say that he will be happy to agree dates from a range we have proposed over the next two months and this correspondece is now being published on our website. Thank you.
Chilcot apparently intended to break the news and he and the committee were not pleased that Brown had leaked the news the night before. Graeme Wilson (The Sun) explained, "The inquiry is believed to be furious that the move was revealed by No 10 sources before a planned announcement today." David Brown (Times of London) also noted the anger, "An exact date for the Prime Minister's appearance is yet to be set and sources said that members of the inquiry were absolutely furious that the information was released by No 10 before its planned announcement today. They complain that Downing Street is turning the invitation, which was extended by the inquiry in a letter last night, into a political issue."The banning of candidates continued in Iraq but that's the topic of an editorial so we'll turn to last week's violence. Sunday 4 Iraqis were reported dead and four injured; Monday 11 were reported dead and 10 wounded; Tuesday no one reported dead or wounded; Wednesday 6 were reported dead and 11 were reported wounded; Thursday no one was reported dead or wounded; Friday 1 person was reported dead and 6 were reported wounded; and Saturday 3 were reported dead and 6 wounded. That's 24 reported dead and 39 reported wounded.
Thursday, the US military announced: "CAMP VICTORY, Iraq -- A U.S. Soldier assigned to United States Forces - Iraq died of non-combat related injuries as a result of a vehicle accident, Jan. 20. The Soldier's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The names of service members are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense official website [. . .] The announcements are made on the Web site no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member's primary next of kin. The incident is under investigation." The announcement brought the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 4374.