Hominid Views

Yeah…this is an old theme. Bush and friends lied and launched the U.S. into an unnecessary and very expensive war. The price for the lies and deception were paid by John McCain, a bunch of congresspersons, the American taxpayer, 4,000+ dead U.S. soldiers, 30,000 wounded U.S. soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of dead and maimed Iraqi civilians.

Still…those who directly perpetrated the fraud have not been held responsible. At least not in the U.S.

In the U.K. there is something going on. The Chilcot Inquiry, announced last June, has been investigating the role of the U.K. in the Iraq war, and what lessons can be learned from it. And, perhaps related to the inquiry, the British Telegraph has leaked some damning memos:

Tony Blair, the former prime minister, misled MPs and the public throughout 2002 when he claimed that Britain’s objective was “disarmament, not regime change” and that there had been no planning for military action. In fact, British military planning for a full invasion and regime change began in February 2002.

The need to conceal this from Parliament and all but “very small numbers” of officials “constrained” the planning process. The result was a “rushed”operation “lacking in coherence and resources” which caused “significant risk” to troops and “critical failure” in the post-war period.
[...]

The plans “contained no detail once Baghdad had fallen”, causing a “notable loss of momentum” which was exploited by insurgents.

Sound familiar?

Clearly, prime minister Blair was in cahoots with the Bush Administration. My hunch is that it was Bush driving Blair to under-plan for the war effort so as to keep it secret and lie to the British people about intentions in Iraq. One wonders if the Chilcot Inquiry will ultimately find that the biggest lesson learned is to never again blindly trust a United States President hellbent on war.