Iraq details for aid workers 'were scanty before war'
UK aid officials had "scanty" evidence of the situation in Iraq in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion, a senior civil servant has said.
Sir Suma Chakrabarti, ex-Department for International Development permanent secretary, said contact with UN staff had been banned until October 2002.
This restriction had been put in place to avoid revealing that military action was possible, he told the Iraq Inquiry.
This meant most knowledge was "desktop information" only, he said.
The UK had no diplomatic relations with Saddam Hussein's Iraq for 12 years leading up the invasion...>>>>>
General: Amateurs ran post-conflict Iraq
Inexperienced officials were put in charge of post-conflict reconstruction in Iraq at the expense of lives and treasure, a London war inquiry heard.
British Lt. Gen. Federick Viggers, the top British military
representative in Iraq in 2003, told a London inquiry into the Iraq war on Wednesday that British planners were not prepared for the swift overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime, London's Telegraph newspaper reports.
"That was a stunning military operation but in so doing it took everyone by surprise," he said. "We suffered from a lack of any real understanding of the state of that country post-invasion."..>>>>>
Hmmm, amateurs sent in by Blair and his company, they probably felt right at home with the American ones, like the ones coming out of the administration contacts as well as the political party connections. Or how about all those civilian contractors, sans the mercs I would hope, seeking those six figure salaries to do jobs for the military personnel, or instead of, as well as drivers etc. who probably never served in a combat theater much less an occupation quickly evolving into the expected insurgency, now thems amateurs, and like the Lt Gen below says "lives had been lost as a result"!
Army chief lambasts 'amateurs' in post-invasion Iraq
A senior official has told the inquiry into the Iraq war that "amateurs" who did not have the experience to perform were put into key roles in the country.
Lt Gen Frederick Viggers, Britain's senior military representative in Iraq, said lives had been lost as a result.
He said senior officials, including ministers, needed more training to deal with the complexities involved in mounting an invasion.
The inquiry is examining UK policy towards Iraq between 2001 and 2009.
The first few weeks have focused on policy in the run-up to the war, the UK's assessment of Iraq's weapons capacity, military preparations for the invasion and post-war planning.
'Huge responsibility'...>>>>>
Iraq Inquiry: 'amateur' ministers to blame for soldier deaths in Afghanistan
Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Viggers Photo: MOLLY BINGHAM / WPN
British soldiers are dying in Afghanistan because of decisions made by "amateurs" in the Government, Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Viggers, one of the Army's most senior officers, has told the Iraq Inquiry.
Lt Gen Viggers, who was the senior British military representative in Iraq from May to September 2003, said ministers had learned nothing from their experience of the Iraq war and are "not living up to the responsibility" placed on them.
He launched into his astonishing attack on the Government when he was asked whether he felt ministers and senior civil servants should have training in military strategy before taking up key positions.
Complaining that the job of post-war reconstruction in Iraq had suffered from a "lack of a sense of direction from the outset", He said: "We have not really progressed at the strategic level. I am not talking about the soldiers and commanders and civilians...who did a great job...>>>>>
Iraq Inquiry: war officials were 'amateurs'
Britain's top military representative in Iraq at the time tells the Iraq Inquiry that amateurs were put into top planning jobs in post-invasion Iraq, costing peoples' lives as a result. Alex Thomson reports...>>>>>
General: British troops killed by amateurism
Sir Frederick Viggers led British forces in Iraq in 2003
Lack of expertise at the top had fatal consequences in Iraq, inquiry told
British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan because of the "amateur" handling of the operation by the Government, one of Britain's most senior military officials has said.
Lt-General Sir Frederick Viggers, who led British forces in Iraq in 2003, said that lessons had not been learnt from the mistakes made during that campaign, which had suffered from a "lack of a sense of direction from the outset".
He told the Chilcot Iraq inquiry that problems in the planning of military action, such as that currently being carried out in Helmand province, Afghanistan, persisted because those at the top of Government did not have the necessary expertise. "We have not really progressed at the strategic level," Sir Frederick said. "I am not talking about the soldiers and commanders and civilians... who did a great job...>>>>>
Amateurs, from the cheney/bush administration and rubber stamping republican party, sent into a War Theater, surprised?, Well Duh Yaaaa, just think of the Justice Department, Torture, Stepping All Over Our Constitution, Ignoring Ours and International Law {we helped write}, Hurricane Katrina, Walter Reed, Army Barracks, lowering of standards as to recruitment, raising the age for recruits, stop loss and we can go on and on right up till they left, but as to these theaters just look at Afghanistan today or even Iraq, we're still in both and though Iraq isn't as destructive as it was our soldiers are still there and dying, the only ones from the coalition of the willing, and deaths of hundreds of Iraqi's, by bombings, are still happening!
UK military chief told 'when not if' over Iraq invasion
UK troops encountered less opposition than expected, the generals said
The man who led UK troops into Iraq in 2003 says he was told 10 months earlier that it was a matter of "when not if" the US would pursue military action.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge said General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces, told him in May 2002 that he hoped the UK would be "alongside".
He told the Iraq inquiry the campaign was conducted to minimise the impact on Iraqi civilians and key infrastructure.
The inquiry is examining UK policy towards Iraq between 2001 and 2009...>>>>>
INQUIRY TIMELINE
November-December: Former top civil servants, spy chiefs, diplomats and military commanders to give evidence
January-February 2010: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and other politicians expected to appear before the panel
March 2010: Inquiry expected to adjourn ahead of the general election campaign
July-August 2010: Inquiry expected to resume
Report set to be published in late 2010 or early 2011
And now some are having second thoughts, looking for absolution,probably, but way too many have died, way too many enemies have been created and the world has become much more dangerous because of!!
John Prescott on Iraq war: how did I go along with it?
John Prescott: 'I do wonder, looking back now ... how did I then go along [with it]?' Photograph: Dan Chung
Former deputy prime minister admits asking himself how he was persuaded to back British involvement in the Iraq war
John Prescott has admitted he wonders how he agreed to go along with Britain's participation in the war in Iraq.
In an interview to be published tomorrow in the New Statesman the former deputy prime minister says: "I do wonder, looking back now, having the privilege of discussing with Tony [Blair] about all this: how did I then go along [with it]?"
Prescott also acknowledges that Lord Goldsmith – the attorney general at the time – was troubled by the war.
"If you say, 'Was Goldsmith a happy man about this?' No, he wasn't," Prescott says, adding: "That's quite different from saying, 'No, I'm sorry, my view is that it's illegal, I'm not supporting it.'"
Goldsmith's advice to the government that the war was legal remains controversial and his views have been discussed at the current Chilcot inquiry...>>>>>
Analysis: Inquiries are academic to Baghdad's people, under attack yet again
IN THE smoke, dust and screams of multiple Baghdad street bombings, and in the hushed intent of the Chilcot Inquiry hearings, the disparate, distasteful strands of the Iraq conflict's planning and aftermath were brought the fore once again.
Even as Sir John Scarlett pushed himself a little further from the "dodgy dossier", the people of Baghdad were focused on a rather more immediate question – who was visiting this violence upon them once again?
The sectarian and ethnic fault lines that the invasion caused to shift so violently are still there. The distrust between the Sunni Muslims who controlled Iraq under Saddam Hussein and the majority Shia, who now dominate, persists. The previously persecuted Kurds in the north, sitting on massive oil deposits, still have aspirations towards self-government...>>>>>
Was Taxi Driver Source for Key Saddam WMD Claim?
It sounds like a bad joke but it may be a true story: one of the most sensational claims made by the British government in the run-up to the Iraq War about Saddam Hussein’s supposed weapons of mass destruction may have come from an Iraqi taxi driver based on a conversation he overheard from passengers in his backseat two years earlier.
That’s what happened, according to Adam Holloway, a conservative member of Parliament reputed to have “close links” to intelligence officials, in a paper published this week. The claim raises new questions about the origins of pre-Iraq war intelligence at a sensitive time for the British government. An official United Kingdom tribunal is currently examining how and why former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government chose to join the invasion of Iraq...>>>>>
This below sounds interesting, it comes from the second link directly above. Alright all you cheney cabalers raise your hands, who's willing to come clean? Just think you don't have to worry about being prosecuted here nobody seems interested about All those New Enemies we've created, especially among the young, who will now be around for the next couple of decades. So at least you can clear your concious, even though, as to Iraq, you're no better then Saddams henchmen, that's how you'll be thought of not only in Iraq but the region. And we Americans, well for many, especially the kids who have and are now growing up in the devestated countries and especially who've had family and friends killed and maimed, well they're not going to be any to friendly towards us nor our policies!
British Iraq Inquiry Likely to Seek Testimony from U.S. Witnesses
A U.K. government inquiry investigating Britain's involvement in the Iraq War may want to take testimony from U.S. citizens, a British government official has confirmed to NEWSWEEK. The U.K. investigation, which began public hearings late last month, is examining why the British government decided to participate in the operation to oust Saddam Hussein...>>>>>
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