Military commanders are expected to tell the inquiry into the Iraq war, which opens on Tuesday, that the invasion was ill-conceived and that preparations were sabotaged by Tony Blair's government's attempts to mislead the public.They were so shocked by the lack of preparation for the aftermath of the invasion that they believe members of the British and US governments at the time could be prosecuted for war crimes by breaching the duty outlined in the Geneva convention to safeguard civilians in a conflict, the Guardian has been told.
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Significantly, the documents support what officials have earlier admitted – that the army was not allowed to prepare properly for the Iraq invasion in 2002 so as not to alert parliament and the UN that Blair was already determined to go to war.
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Blair had in effect promised George Bush that he would join the US-led invasion when, as late as July 2002, he was denying to MPs that preparations were being made for military action. The leaked documents reveal that "from March 2002 or May at the latest there was a significant possibility of a large-scale British operation".
There are an awful lot of people on both sides of the the Atlantic who should be staring at the inside walls of prison cells. I put the chances of them actually being forced to do so at between zero and none.
The overclass must be protected at all costs. Doing otherwise might make David Broder cranky.
And where are we almost seven years later?
In its largest reconstruction effort since the Marshall Plan, the United States government has spent $53 billion for relief and reconstruction in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, building tens of thousands of hospitals, water treatment plants, electricity substations, schools and bridges.But there are growing concerns among American officials that Iraq will not be able to adequately maintain the facilities once the Americans have left, potentially wasting hundreds of millions of dollars and jeopardizing Iraq’s ability to provide basic services to its people.
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Despite the $53 billion spent by the United States, many Iraqis have criticized the rebuilding effort as wasteful. Ali Ghalib Baban, Iraq’s minister of planning, said it had not had a discernible impact. “Maybe they spent it,” he said, “but Iraq doesn’t feel it.”
Where are our vaunted deficit hawks on this? We're told that the mere thought of providing healthcare for the Average Joe will destroy the United States but when it comes to shoveling billions - trillions - into George and Dick's Excellent Mesopotamian Adventure there's nary a peep.
What distinguishes advanced democracies from tin-pot dictatorships is holding leaders accountable for their actions. Decide for yourself where we stand today.
And let's not get started on Vietnam Afghanistan.
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