Friday, December 18, 2009

Tony Blair, Iraq Inquiry, dizzy war porn from NYT

The father of a serviceman killed in the conflict alleged that the former prime minister used WMD as a "way in" to the war despite being told by former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix that the weapons did not exist.
Richard Green urged members of the Iraq Inquiry to look closely at how arguments about WMD were used in the run-up to the March 2003 invasion.
His son, Royal Navy Lieutenant Philip Green, 30, from Caythorpe, Lincolnshire, was one of seven personnel killed when two Sea King helicopters collided over the northern Arabian Gulf two days after the start of the war.

The above is from Scotland Herald's "Blair accused by families of Iraq 'cover-up'." Lt Philip Green is among the 179 members of the British military branch to die in the Iraq War. Tony Blair is set to appear before the Iraq Inquiry next year. Michael Savage (Belfast Telegraph) offers this evaluation of the public hearings held thus far by the Inquiry:

One theme has emerged above all others.
"This time, in contrast to previous inquiries, where it becomes essential, they are prepared to leave Blair in the firing line," said Brian Jones, a former Ministry of Defence intelligence analyst. It is not just disgruntled civil servants or under-resourced military chiefs hitting back, either. Even former advisers have left the inquiry ensuring that Mr Blair has more awkward questions to answer.
While the former head of MI6, Sir John Scarlett, told the committee that Mr Blair had been made aware of last-minute intelligence that Saddam Hussein's weapons had been dismantled, his personal adviser also weighed in this week. Sir John Sawers, foreign affairs adviser to the former Prime Minister, said he did not share Mr Blair's confidence that invading had been the right decision. "Frankly, had we known the scale of the violence, it might well have led to second thoughts about the entire project," he said. Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who served as a special representative in Baghdad, added that Mr Blair had told him to make improving the media image of the situation in Iraq a priority, and accused him of giving him an unrealistic target for training Iraqi police.

The New Statesman has a folder here for all their Iraq Inquiry coverage. [And John Lennon fans and friends (who isn't one?) click here for an excerpt of a 1968 interview.] Frances Gibb's "Absence of lawyers 'means Iraq inquiry will not get to the truth'" (Times of London):

The Iraq inquiry could be undermined through having no lawyers to question witnesses and establish the truth, the Shadow Justice Secretary warned yesterday.
Dominic Grieve, a QC, told The Times: "Having waited so long for an inquiry into Iraq, it is vital that we learn the whole truth.
"It is surprising that the inquiry is not benefiting from the probing questioning that an experienced lawyer would provide, particularly when it comes to taking evidence from the witnesses and experts involved."
As Sir John Chilcot, the inquiry chairman, defended himself against charges of being too soft on witnesses, Mr Grieve's comments were echoed by Sir Ken Macdonald, QC, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, and other lawyers. Sir Ken said that to maintain public confidence the inquiry had to be seen to be challenging and rigorous, even though it was now in public.

Not much interest in the events in London from the New York Times but they're all over the 'sexy' story that's basically stolen HBO with war meanings. Yes, the intercepted drone feeds. Scott Shane and Christopher Drew cover it in "Officials Say Iraq Fighters Intercepted Drone Video:"

Insurgents in Iraq have occasionally intercepted video images sent from American military drones to troops in the field, causing the Defense Department to increase its use of encryption over the last year, military and intelligence officials said Thursday.

The Wall St. Journal's Sibohan Gorman, Yochi J. Dreazen and August Cole broke the story yesterday and they continue to lead on it today reporting: "Senior U.S. military officers working for the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed the danger of Russia and China intercepting and doctoring video from drone aircraft in 2004, but the Pentagon didn't begin securing the signals until this year, according to people familiar with the matter."

The New York Times does offers an editorial entitled "Iraq, the Kurds and the Americans." Allegedly it is identifying issues of concern. For that to be the case, it would need to acknowledge the refugee crisis (external and internal) and the plight of Iraq's various minority populations. Not to mention shine a light on Iraqi widows and orphans. The editorial notes:

Four months ago, with little fanfare, the State Department sent a full-time senior diplomat, Alan Misenheimer, to live in Iraq’s disputed oil-rich city Kirkuk. For the Obama administration, which had been hoping to back out of its day-to-day involvement in Iraq’s fractious politics, it was a smart, if belated, call.

"With little fanfare"? Or coverage. And excuse me, editorial board, I believe you are the editorial board of a newspaper. I believe reporters and columnists work for that paper. Little fanfare?

It's a lengthy editorial but most noticeable for what it omits (women, children) and for just how superficial it is.

TV notes. Friday on most PBS stations (check local listings), NOW on PBS asks: "Can a breakthrough health care innovation in Rwanda work in the U.S.?"

In rural Rwanda, the simple and time-tested idea of medical house calls
is not only improving the health of the community, but stimulating its
economy as well. On Friday, December 18 at 8:30 pm (check local
listings), NOW travels to the village of Rwinkwavu to meet the Rwandan
doctors, nurses and villagers who are teaming up with Boston-based
Partners in Health and the Rwandan government to deliver medicine and
medical counseling door-to-door. Would such an innovation work in
America?
In the capital of Kigali, NOW's David Brancaccio sits down with Rwandan
President Paul Kagame to talk about international aid and Kagame's
ultimate vision for a healthy, financially-independent Rwanda.

Washington Week begins airing on many PBS stations tonight (and throughout the weekend, check local listings) and joining Gwen are Charles Babington (AP), Ceci Connolly (Washington Post), John Dickerson (Slate) and Greg Ip (Economist). Meanwhile Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Nicole Kurokawa, Patricia Sosa, Genevieve Wood and controversial stand-up comic Kim Gandy (new book: It's Okay To Fail Women -- And Liberating Too! -- They're Just Icky Girls With Cooties) to discuss the week's events on PBS' To The Contrary. Check local listings, on many stations, it begins airing tonight. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:

The Long Recession
Scott Pelley returns to Wilmington, Ohio, to see how residents are coping a year after thousands of them lost their jobs when the town's largest employer shut down.

The Patriarch
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the leader of the 300 million-member Orthodox Christian Church, feels "crucified" living in Turkey under a government he says would like to see his nearly 2,000-year-old Patriarchate die out. Bob Simon reports. | Watch Video

Alec Baldwin
Morley Safer profiles the versatile actor, who talks candidly about his career and his personal life - including his very public divorce and custody battle

60 Minutes, Sunday, Dec. 20, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.



Radio notes. NPR's The Diane Rehm Show begins airing on most NPR stations at 10:00 am EST (and streaming live online). For the domestic hour (first hour), her panelestis are E.J. Dionne (Washington Post), Ross Douthat (New York Times) and Susan Page (USA Today). For the international hour (second hour), her guests are Youchi Dreazen (Wall St. Journal), Tom Gjelten (NPR) and Farah Stockman (Boston Globe).


We'll note this from the War Resisters League:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 16, 2009
Contact: Matt Daloisio, National Committee Member, War Resisters League
201-264-4424 or daloisio@riseup.net

WRL Activist Ellen Barfield Gets Jail Time for “Blood Money”
Citing the “biohazard” created by blood-stained money, Judge Lynne Leibovitz of Washington’s Superior Court recently sentenced Ellen Barfield, a member of the War Resisters League National Committee to 25 days in jail for a protest at a Senate hearing on U.S. Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy.
Three capital-area peace proponents interrupted the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last May 21, calling out “No more blood money for wars!” and “End the wars now.” To scattered applause from spectators, Barfield of Baltimore and Peter Perry and Eve Tetaz, both of Washington, DC, dropped blood-stained dollar bills on the hearing room floor until they were removed by guards.
On December 14, Judge Leibovitz also sentenced Perry to four days and postponed Tetaz’s sentencing for health reasons.
A U.S. Army veteran, Barfield is also active in Veterans for Peace. All three defendants are members of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, formed to end “aggressive and immoral wars.”
In her sentencing statement, Barfield said, “Silence is the voice of complicity, and I cannot be complicit with our government's war-making.”
The defendants argued that their action was in the tradition of Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Judge Leibovitz and the prosecutor disagreed. In addition to describing the blood money as a “biohazard,” Judge Leibovitz declared that there is a "time and place" for making one's views heard. The prosecutor, referring to Barfield’s lengthy list of arrests for nonviolent civil disobedience, asked Leibovitz to impose an even longer sentence, in the hope that several months in jail would change Barfield so that she would no longer commit this kind of crime.
Barfield’s husband, Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert, observed that he “and her friends and colleagues know better.”
Barfield’s lawyer, Ann Wilcox, expressed the defendants’ gratitude for the presence of supporters in the courtroom during the sentencing. Barring an appeal or unforeseen circumstances, Barfield should be released on or about January 8. Messages supporting her can be sent to wrl@warresisters.org.



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