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| What have we done? |
May
2004 to Present
November 2003 to April 2004
July 2003 to October 2003
May 2003 to June 2003
March 2003 to April 2003
These pages contains news items since the start of the war and will be maintained as a diary of events. It will demonstrate that the war against Iraq was unjust and questions US/UK motives for the pre-emptive attack on Iraq.
The links used in these pages are from respected media sources that make their archives freely available. The majority are from the BBC, Guardian, Observer, Independent and Times. A few are taken from the Daily Mirror, and a few from Al Jazeera to obtain an Arab perspective.
The US/UK 'claimed' legal justification for war on the basis that Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and was a direct and immediate threat. It is clear that this was not the case. As of October 2003 no WMD have been located, and even if they are present it is clear that Iraq was in no position to be a threat. Who is accountable for the deaths of thousands of people in the Iraq war, Mr Blair, Mr Bush? Not only did the US/UK initiate an unjust war, it was also clearly an illegal war initiated by two irresponsible leaders who have misled the world. Events since the war suggest that the motives for this war were control of the region and it's oil supplies. And as for human rights, how have the Iraqi prisoners been treated by the US and UK......
27th February
New charge undermines Blair claims on Iraq war - fresh evidence
has come to light suggesting that Tony Blair committed
himself to war in Iraq nearly a year before the American and British assault
in March
2003.
23rd February
Revealed: the rush to war - the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith,
warned
less than two weeks before the invasion of Iraq that military action could
be ruled illegal. Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy legal adviser at the Foreign
Office, described the planned invasion of Iraq as a "crime of aggression".
12th January
US gives up search for Iraq WMD - Intelligence officials have
confirmed the US has stopped
searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The existence of WMD
had been the stated reason in Washington and London for going to war with
Iraq.
8th December
CIA adds to gloom over Iraq - the CIA station chief in Baghdad
has sent a pessimistic
end-of-tour assessment about Iraq, according to the New York Times.
16th November
More US war crimes - first the torture of prisoners, now the
murder
of unarmed
and wounded
people.
15th November
An apology - at least half of America is sorry......
29th October
100,000 Iraqi civilians dead, says study in Lancet
- the first scientific study on the number of civilians killed (murdered?)
in Iraq reveals
that100,000 Iraqi civilians - half of them women and children - have died
in Iraq since the invasion, mostly as a result of airstrikes by coalition
forces.
17th October
Aide quits over ‘illegal’ war - a senior official
who helped draw up Tony Blair’s dossier on weapons of mass destruction
has quit in disgust
over what he regards as the illegal war in Iraq. Ross is understood to
believe the evidence was “unambiguous” that Iraq posed little
or no threat so the legal case for war was flawed. He and other officials
are believed to have raised their concerns with ministers. Ross said yesterday:
“I am happy to confirm that I resigned because of the war, but I
cannot comment further.”
16th October
Why is war-torn Iraq giving $190,000 to Toys R Us? - next
week, something will happen that will unmask
the upside-down morality of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. On October
21, Iraq will pay $200m in war reparations to some of the richest countries
and corporations in the world.
15th October
Poll reveals world anger at Bush - George Bush has squandered
a wealth of sympathy around the world towards America since September
11 with public opinion in 10 leading countries - including some of its
closest allies - growing more hostile to the United States while he has
been in office.
15th October
The making of the terror myth - since September 11 Britain
has been warned of the 'inevitability' of catastrophic terrorist attack.
But has the danger been exaggerated? In the UK the Home Office's own statistics
for arrests and convictions of suspected terrorists since September 11
2001 state that of the 664 people detained up to the end of last month,
only 17
have been found guilty. Of these, the majority were Irish Republicans,
Sikh militants or members of other groups with no connection to Islamist
terrorism. Nobody has been convicted who is a proven member of al-Qaida.
13th October
Weapons of Mass Deceipt - Jack
Straw yesterday finally admitted
the claim Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes
was not
justified.
10th October
Blair 'clinging to straws' - Tony Blair and George Bush are
"clinging
to straws" to justify the war in Iraq, Hans Blix has said. He
also said the report was further evidence "that the reality on the
ground was totally different from the virtual reality that had been spun".
9th October
Paul Bigley: “Mr. Blair has blood on his hands”
- after hearing news of his brother’s death, Paul Bigley quit the
meeting, and instead he sent a short message
to be read by Carmel Brown of Stop The War.The message said: “Please,
please stop the war and prevent any other lives being lost. It is illegal.
It has to stop. “Mr Blair has blood
on his hands.”
He added: "This war is illegal and it must stop. The United Nations
declared this war illegal. There are no weapons of mass destruction, which
were taken as a foundation for this war."
7th October
Iraq had no WMD, inspectors conclude - Saddam Hussein destroyed
his last weapons of mass destruction more
than a decade ago and his capacity to build new ones had been dwindling
for years by the time of the Iraq invasion, according to a comprehensive
US report
released yesterday. Iraq kept up WMD pretence 'to deter Iran' and was
not
a threat to Europe or the USA.
5th October
Dear Mike, Iraq sucks - civilian contractors are fleecing
taxpayers; US troops don't have proper equipment; and supposedly liberated
Iraqis hate them. After the release of Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore
received a flood
of letters and emails from disillusioned and angry American soldiers serving
in Iraq.
18th September
Blair 'was warned of Iraq chaos' - Tony Blair was warned
there could be post-war problems
a year before the Iraq invasion. Documents further show that the Prime
Minister was advised that he would have to "wrong foot" Saddam
Hussein into giving the allies an excuse
for war, and that British officials believed that President George W Bush
merely wanted to complete his father's "unfinished business"
in a "grudge match" against Saddam.
18th September
Iraq had no WMD: the final verdict - a draft of the Iraq Survey
Group's final report circulating in Washington found no
sign of the alleged illegal stockpiles that the US and Britain presented
as the justification for going to war, nor did it find any evidence of
efforts to reconstitute Iraq's nuclear weapons programme.
16th September
IIraq war illegal, says Annan - the United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan has told the BBC the US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal
act that contravened
the UN charter.
16th September
IColonel accuses Allies over Iraq -a British Army officer
who won praise for a rousing speech to troops in Iraq has accused the
US and UK of failing
to plan for after the war.
10th September
New blow to Blair over Iraq - Tony Blair will be confronted
with a fresh challenge over Iraq within the next two weeks when the long-awaited
final report of the Iraq Survey Group concludes
there were no weapons of mass destruction in the country at the time of
the US-UK invasion.
18th July
Butler Report independent and accurate? - Downing Street secured
vital changes
to the Butler Report before its publication, watering down an explicit
criticism of Tony Blair and the way he made the case for war in the House
of Commons.
18th July
Attorney General warned Blair on legality of war - Tony Blair
was warned
before the Iraq war by the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, that a UN
court could rule Britain's invasion unlawful.
16th July
Blair 'in dark' over Iraq report - Tony Blair claims
that he did not know a key piece of Iraq intelligence had been discredited
when he gave evidence to last year's Hutton inquiry. What else did he
not know? Is this acceptable from the man that took us to war?
15th July
European reaction
to Butler report - Blair's credibility lies in tatters... his stubborn
insistence that the Iraq war was right is merely an act of desperation
( Berliner Zeitung). Even those who don't call into question the prime
minister's honesty will at least have to think about his ability to lead
the country (Sueddeutsche Zeitung). Whatever the final details of the
report on the CIA and MI6, the total failure of British intelligence is
obvious (Nepszabadsag).
15th July
Blair faces renewed war questions - Tony Blair faces renewed
pressure over the war with Iraq after Lord Butler's revelations about
the "thinness" of the intelligence used to justify it.
15th July
Headlines from UK papers - Tony Blair oversold
the case for war and failed to reveal how little
British intelligence knew about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction,
the Butler report concludes (Telegraph). Iraq intelligence was flawed
and misused.
The devil for Blair remains in the detail
with evidence stretched
to 'outer limits' (Guardian). So why did our sons have to die?
(Daily Mirror)
The intelligence: flawed
The dossier: dodgy
The 45-minute claim: wrong
Dr Brian Jones: vindicated
Iraq's link to al-Qa'ida: unproven
The public: misled
The case for war: exaggerated
And who was to blame? No one (Independent)
15th July
Butler Report - represents a damning
indictment of the way Britain was taken to war on Iraq. The intelligence
on which the action was based was flawed
and it was then presented to the public by security chiefs and the government
without accompanying reservations. In particular, the infamous claim that
Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes
should not have been included in the document in the way it was. Unfortunately
the Butler Report could not identify who was responsible as the clear
remit was to look at the quality of the intelligence, NOT the way it was
used and who was responsible for the way it was 'sold' to the public.
Thus the important questions are still unanswered. Tony Blair has said
he accepts responsibility for the failings highlighted in the report,
but is not prepared to resign honorably.
Dr Hans Blix, the UN's former chief weapons inspector, said the government
had "hyped" Iraq's weapons capability in its September 2002
dossier. He told BBC's Hardtalk programme: "I think it was a spin
that was not acceptable. "They put exclamation marks where there
had been question marks and I think that is hyping, a spin, that leads
the public to the wrong conclusions."
11th July
Now Blair must face an inquiry - 'the fundamental question
posed by the Iraq war is about judgment - specifically the Prime Minister's.
He made the decisions that took us to war. He overrode the concerns of
all of us who believed the case for war had not been made. He chose to
follow George Bush at any cost. We need a full explanation.'
10th July
Blair's Iraq evidence 'confusing' - two former intelligence
officers have cast doubts
over Tony Blair's use of evidence in the run-up to war in Iraq.
10th July
Personal Comment - why is it that Tony Blair
and his Government did not question the evidence presented to them when
those of us against war did? I have yet to see the convincing evidence
that took us to war? The majority of this country did not want to go to
war yet we were assured by Tony Blair that Iraq was a real and imminent
threat. Will Tony Blair take responsibility
and resign for his mistakes and those of his intelligence services? The
BBC director general was forced
to resign
following failures within the BBC. Greg Dyke's failures did not have such
serious consequences, and did not lead to the death of thousands of people.
Was Humberside police chief David Westwood not suspended
under severe pressure
from this Government because of failings within his force concerning the
Soham murders?
Come election time I will certainly take into account how such poor judgement
has led to an illegal and immoral war with the death of over 10,000 Iraqis
and 1,000 coalition members. This war has increased the global threat
of terrorism, damaged the reputation of Britain, and will cost the tax
payers of this country in excess of 5 billion pounds.
10th July
Iraq war report damns CIA - the American Senate has delivered
a damning
report on the case
for war against Iraq, savaging the CIA and implicitly blaming British
intelligence. It concluded that assessments of the threat of Saddam Hussein's
weapons of mass destruction were wrong, unreasonable and largely unsubstantiated.
"We went into Iraq based on false claims," said Senator Jay
Rockefeller, one of the authors of yesterday's report on the debacle,
said. He added that he now regretted his vote in October 2002 to support
the war. But did the Government manipulate intelligence for its own political
ends? We know the answer, but the truth is unlikely to be told.......There
will be many quiet retirements with generous pensions.........
5th July
Legality of Iraq occupation 'flawed' - the senior Foreign
Office lawyer who resigned after ministers ignored her advice that the
war in Iraq was illegal
has issued a damning legal critique of the occupation, claiming that the
alleged abuse of prisoners "could amount to war crimes".
30th June
Archbishops slam Iraq jail abuse - Dr Rowan Williams and Dr
David Hope's letter was written on behalf of the 114 Anglican bishops,
they say the abuse of Iraqi detainees has been "deeply damaging"
and the apparent double standards "diminish the credibility
of western governments".
16th June
Probe rules out Iraq-9/11 links - the commission investigating
the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US has found no "credible
evidence" that Iraq helped
al-Qaeda carry them out. The report does not make pleasant
reading for the Bush
Administration.
10th June
Iraq abuse 'came from US
policy' - A human rights group says the torture and mistreatment of
Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers was due to a decision to circumvent international
law.
6th June
The emperor
has no clothes - by senator Robert Byrd. An old article I just found......
5th June
Bush takes a tongue-lashing
from the Pope over Iraq - the Pope yesterday subjected George Bush to
a very public, relentlessly critical assessment of the US administration's
performance in Iraq, attacking "deplorable" abuses of prisoners
and calling for an international solution to the country's crisis. In
addition, tens of thousands of people have been marching
in Rome
in a protest
against the visit by US President George W Bush.
1st June
The lying
game - an A-Z of the Iraq war and its aftermath, focusing on misrepresentation,
manipulation, and mistakes.
26th
May
UK accused
of major
rights abuses - the UK has carried out "serious human rights violations"
as part of its war on terror, Amnesty
International says. Hundreds of civilians had been killed and thousands
injured by coalition bombing during the war in Iraq, the report said.
Thousands of people had been arrested and detained without charge or trial
in Iraq, and "torture and ill-treatment by coalition forces were
widespread", it said. The report also stated that the US-led "war
on terror" is behind a surge of human rights abuses around the world,
according to a report by Amnesty International. The organisation said
America's offensive against global terrorism was "bankrupt of vision"
and had "made the world a more dangerous place".
21st May
'US soldiers
started to shoot us, one by one' - survivors describe
wedding massacre as generals refuse to apologise. When Iraqis are blown
apart in Baghdad by a car bomb, or Israelis in Haifa by a suicide bomber,
these are instantly and correctly labelled as terrorist attacks. However
when American helicopters or Israeli tanks cause death to innocent civilians
on a similar scale, there is always an alternative
version on offer. This comes amidst the row over the conduct of US personnel
in Iraq which intensified yesterday after an American news channel showed
gruesome new photographs of military police officers posing with the battered
body of a dead
Iraqi prisoner. Inmates were raped,
ridden like animals,
and forced to eat pork
20th May
What the war
was really about - many in the US are worried
about pulling out of Iraq, traditional conservatives who see American
interests in the Middle East as focused on a regular supply of oil are
anxious because it has pulled its troops out of one big producer, Saudi
Arabia, without establishing a sustainable military presence in another,
Iraq.
Administration critics, as well as a growing number of Republican moderates,
are arguing that to salvage the situation in Iraq the administration will
have to jettison many of its other policy goals and political ambitions.
For example, it will have to give up all hope of establishing permanent
military bases in Iraq, securing advantages for US firms, and staying
out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
16th May
Daily Mirror
photos were a hoax - but it is clear that acts of cruelty were committed
by a number
of British troops. The Daily Mirror admitted its mistake and sacked its
editor. Will Mr Blair and Mr Bush apologise for their mistakes/lies. We
were taken to war on the false premise that weapons of mass destruction
would be found in Iraq. Bogus dossiers were produced and lies told to
the UN to convince the world it was legally right to invade a sovereign
country.
11th May
Senior Britons
were in the dark - the Red Cross said last night it could not understand
how senior British figures did not know troops were accused of abusing
Iraqi civilians when British diplomats and military commanders had been
given a number of detailed warnings over the past 13 months.
The Red Cross report condemned
physical and psychological abuse employed by US troops at Abu Ghraib prison
as “standard operating procedure”.
11th May
UK troops 'shot
harmless Iraqis' - UK troops have killed
Iraqi civilians
including an eight-year-old girl when they were under no apparent threat,
Amnesty
International has claimed.
In a further revelation, British troops in Iraq were acting illegally
by "hooding"
prisoners, the Government was forced to admit
yesterday.
10th May
Abuse claims
known a year ago - the government was told of allegations
UK troops abused Iraqi prisoners a year
ago according
to Amnesty
International. Meanwhile, as more torture pictures are released,
Iraq's first human rights minister launched a blistering attack
yesterday on America's chief administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, saying
that he had warned him repeatedly last year that US soldiers were abusing
Iraqi detainees.
9th May
Cover-up - the
UK government has confirmed
it received a Red Cross report on alleged abuses
by UK troops on Iraqi prisoners in February. This is despite its claims
of knowing
nothing about allegations of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British troops.
The Red Cross has been documenting abuse that was not the 'exception'
but was close to the norm - abuse that was 'tantamount' to a policy
of torture, and tolerated by coalition forces.
7th May
The Arab papers
respond
to Bush's appearances on Arabic television as more evidence
of abuse
emerges
- "No expression of 'deep disgust' by President George Bush or apology
by the US military will ever change or even minimise the hatred felt in
Iraq and the Arab world towards the Americans and their coalition. Mr
Bush said that the way the US military treated Iraqis is 'not the way
we do things in America'. This may be true about the US when it deals
with Americans. But since the US administration has one set of standards
for Americans and Israel and another for Iraqis and Arabs, respect for
human rights somehow turns into a joke...
7th
May
Red Cross saw
'widespread abuse' - new details have emerged from a Red Cross report
into incidences
of alleged Iraqi prisoner abuse by US soldiers. The Red Cross describes
the abuse as widespread and, in some cases, tantamount to torture. The
Red Cross says it repeatedly warned Washington about the mistreatment.
3rd May
Further reports
of the US torture of Iraqi prisoners - "Saddam Hussein may have oppressed
us but he was better than the Americans. They are garbage."
"The Americans said they would bring us freedom. Is this what they
mean?" The coalition has already found its first justification for
invasion - finding weapons of mass destruction - to be hollow. Its second
justification - humanitarian moral necessity - is rapidly going the same
way.
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