BRITAIN´S BLAIR & BROWN ARE TESTIFYING TO PARLIAMENT ON IRAQ WAR

Unfortunately, we Americans will never get the same opportunity for asking Bush & Cheney about Iraq.

…Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair

Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, is currently testifying for an official Parliamentary inquiry into Great Britain´s involvement in the War in Iraq. His testimony is expected to last for up to two days.

One of the issues is that the opposition party is stating that "Blair illegally authorized the sending of 45,000 British troops into Iraq". This is considered illegal because the soldiers were sent in without final UN approval, which is against all of the UN member´s agreements with the United Nations as to when one nation can legally invade another sovereign nation.

My #1 question is, "Why isn´t George W. Bush and former VP Dick Cheney not also being asked to do the same by the US Congress?" It appears that the Democrats and our current president have decided that what the Bush-Cheney administration did in lying the US into an unnecessary war was just fine and dandy.

Blair´s decision about supporting President Bush in Iraq has become one of his government's most unpopular decisions that still continues to spark mass protests on the streets of London. Of course, with America´s short memory span, nothing like that outrage has occurred here in the US.

British critics of the war continue to question the war's legality and they still accuse Blair of misleading the public, as did President Bush, about claims that Iraq possessed "weapons of mass destruction (WMD´s)". Last week, Blair's former communications chief told the panel that "the prime minister had personally assured President Bush in 2002 that Britain would back military action, if diplomatic efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein failed". Bush had apparently convinced Blair that war was inevitable due to his false info on Iraq´s WMD´s.

But even today, demand is heavy to see Blair's testimony. The inquiry panel will soon vote on how to allocate tickets for public seats. A third of the 60 available spaces will be reserved for families of soldiers who died during the 2003 invasion. And again I ask, "Why is there no similar attitude in the US about the thousands of US troops that were wounded or died in Iraq?"

The current British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will also testify at the Iraq war inquiry sometime in the next two months. That means Brown will testify before Britain holds general elections which are expected to occur on May 6.

Brown has also come under increasing pressure to testify before the elections in which his Labour Party faces a tight race with the opposition Conservative Party. (Recent public opinion polls have shown the Conservatives more than 10 points ahead of Labour.)

The British Inquiry Chairman: John Chilcot, has said that the committee members previously decided not to call any government ministers who are still serving in posts relevant to Iraq. But Brown, who ran the British Treasury before and early in the Iraq war, offered to give evidence at any time. "You have proposed a range of dates in the next two months," Brown wrote Chilcot, in a letter released by Brown's office. "I will be happy to agree to a date that is to the convenience of the inquiry."

(Oh, but if we American´s only had that attitude from the past US administration.)

Chilcot has suggested that Brown appear in late February or early March. Former British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon testified last week that the Treasury, under Brown had forced spending cuts at the Defense Ministry that affected the purchase of necessary military equipment. Such cuts would have affected the ministry's ability to buy helicopters, body armor, and weapons that were needed in the fighting. "We had to look hard at our budget and make some rather difficult cuts in the equipment program as a result," Hoon testified.

Brown served as chancellor, or head of the Treasury, from 1997 until 2007, when Prime Minister Tony Blair stepped down and Brown took over the top post. "As the U.K.'s finance minister, he was ... responsible for not providing key resources for troops at the front line, and our troops unfortunately were often without body armor, without the helicopters they needed, and with the incorrect camouflage for desert conditions," a spokesperson said. "All of this happened on [Blair´s, Bush's and] Gordon Brown's watch and that's why they need to answer questions about [the legality of] all of this."

Alistair Campbell, Blair's former spokesman, testified this month that Brown was part of Blair's inner circle, discussing questions about the Iraq war. "I would certainly say that Gordon Brown would have been one of the key ministers that he [Blair] would have spoken to regularly," Campbell said.

"Given the public interest in this as a policy issue -- I would argue a policy disaster -- one that is also relevant to the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, [it is important] that we hear all the facts both to the benefit of the inquiry but also to help voters make up their mind in the coming general election," the spokesperson told CNN.

"It is only right that they [Blair & Brown] should explain their roles in this disastrous foreign policy failure before asking the British people for their vote," party leader Nick Clegg said in a statement.

Unfortunately, with America´s current attention on finding jobs and fixing Bush´s devastating economy, this kind of inquiry will never happen in America.

Copyright G.Ater 2010

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