Thursday, July 01, 2010

The War Criminals report

aretha

That is not a parody. It's an ad for a July 27th concert Aretha Franklin and Condi Rice are doing. Aretha better think -- think, think -- and remember part of the reason James Brown's legacy is so muddled is due to his cozying up to Richard Nixon. Condi's a War Hawk. That's really how Lady Ree wants to go out? It's her legacy to tarnish.

From an American War Hawk to a British one, Tony Blair. He may have left office long ago but he can't escape his past or the blood on his hands. Blair's in the news for a number of reasons. First off the laughable Philadelphia Liberty Medal is being given to him. Liberty Medal? They've given the damn thing to Hamid Karzai and Colin Powell. It's not an honor, it's a joke. And it's been a dirty joke for the last ten years with repeated rumors of the 'honoree' having bought the award. Express reports, "The honour came after he was advised that the Iraq war was illegal three months before the 2003 invasion." At the Mirror, mata leaves this comment on the news: "go back 30 years and Henry Kissinger received the Nobel Peace Prize, after bombing Cambodia illegally.....politics really is stranger than any fiction can be, and giving an award like this to TB simply demonstrates yet again how completely insaine US policy is, both domestic and internal.....TB came into power to make money for himself and his family, and he's done that both as PM of the UK and afterwards".

At the Guardian, Iraq Inquiry Digest's Chris Ames covers yesterday's revelations from the Iraq Inquiry:

The document that damns Blair is Goldsmith's note to the then prime minister on 30 January 2003, expressly written as advice to Blair in advance of his now notorious meeting with President George Bush the next day. Goldsmith says that, in spite of his recent discussions with figures involved in the negotiation of UN security council resolution 1441 three months earlier, "my view remains that a further decision [of the security council] is required" in order to "authorise the use of force against Iraq".
Note that Goldsmith does not refer to "any" use of force or "a possible" use of force. He has been at the meetings, including the Downing Street meeting of 23 July 2002, and knows that war is coming.

The previously classified documents that the Inquiry released yesterday are:




Paul Waugh (London Evening Standard) reports, "Tony Blair could be recalled to give evidence to the Chilcot inquiry, after the release of secret memos on the legality of the Iraq war. The former prime minister, who attracted worldwide attention when he first appeared in January, may face a second grilling in the autumn." For those who still need to believe in the lies of the illegal war, they can read the idiot and ass John Rentoul and marvel over how the Independent of London is passed off as a 'left' paper. Between Rentoul and make-up-the-facts Patrick Cockburn (most infamously when he had the Iraqi girl who was stoned to death being hanged instead), that paper's going right down the toilet.

Tony Blair has blood on his hands. That includes the blood of Dr. David Kelly who may or may not have taken his own life. Kelly was Andrew Gilligan's source for the story on how the Blair government "sexed up" the pre-war intel to make Saddam Hussein look more threatening (including the claim that England could be attacked by Iraq in 45 minutes!). The Blair government already knew who Gilligan's source was but wanted a public outing in an attempt to shame and humiliate Kelly (and send a message to others what would happen if they came forward). Shortly after Kelly died and the assertion has been repeatedly made that it was a suicide. Miles Goslett (Daily Mail) reports US Air Force officer Mai Pedersen states that Kelly could not have taken her own life, revealing that in their months working together, Kelly was unable to cut his own steak due to an injury (which would make it difficult for him to have slashed his wrist) and that he "had difficulty swallowing pills" so it is unlikely he swallowed "29 painkillers before slitting his left wrist." Alex Newman (New American) adds:

The death certificate, only recently obtained, used peculiar wording in the box meant for entering the place of death. Instead of naming it, the certificate said Kelly was “found dead” at Harrowdown Hill. Experts say the wording alone is enough to open another investigation, especially since there are numerous other irregularities involving the location of Kelly’s body (like heat-sensing helicopters that, based on the official story, should have found the body when flying over).
The death certificate also states that a coroner’s inquest was performed. But it wasn’t. It also lacks a doctor’s or coroner’s signature, something all death certificates in the U.K. are required to have.
"This death certificate is evidence of a failure properly to examine the cause of Dr Kelly’s death. It is evidence of a pre-judgment of the issue. In a coroner’s inquest the cause of death would not be registered until the whole inquiry had been completed. As we see here, the cause of death was registered before the Hutton Inquiry had finished,” said former coroner and law expert Dr. Michael Powers QC, who aims to have a thorough investigation conducted.

The Senate Democratic Policy Committee continues addressing a number of issues, check out the DPC's video page, and we'll note a video on the Gulf Disaster by Senator Robert Menendez.



And here is Senator Byron Dorgan addressing the issue of unemployment insurance.



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