Tony Blair is a war criminal

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > Tony Blair is a war criminal

Jose: Jul 24, 2007; Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer

The chilcot report comes out today and he's probably not going to be charged with war crimes but he should be

http://www.middleeasteye.net/essays/not-chilcot-report-i-735780679

Its a long read and here is some of Blair's lying to get the UK to invade Iraq

quote:

On 17 March 2003, Blair told his cabinet that Britain would join Bush�s invasion, come what may. The following day, MPs were asked to vote on a motion to authorise the war.

Remarkably, even Blair�s motion itself was misleading: it claimed that President Jacques Chirac had said in a TV interview that France would always veto a UN resolution authorising military action against Iraq.

In fact, Chirac had said that if and when the weapons inspectors reported that disarmament by inspection was impossible, then "regrettably, the war would become inevitable".

Not only did MPs fail to expose this, they also failed to challenge Blair on other gravely misleading assertions and omissions.

In an emotional speech to the House, he described a recent weapons inspectors� report as a "remarkable document", and gave the impression that it contained new and damning evidence.

Quoting from a section on mustard gas, he said: "Mustard constituted an important part of Iraq�s CW [chemical weapons] arsenal - 550 mustard filled shells and up to 450 mustard filled aerial bombs unaccounted for."

In reality, the report did not claim that Iraq possessed banned weapons - merely that certain material was "unaccounted for". And Blair�s alarmist statement actually meant something quite different if you read the full text from which it was taken.

The mustard-filled shells and bombs that he�d mentioned had been unaccounted for since 1998. "According to an investigation," said the report, "the discrepancy in the accounting for the mustard-filled shells could be explained by the fact that Iraq had based its accounting on approximations."

In other words, the shells containing mustard gas may never have existed.

But Blair didn�t stop there. He also told MPs that among other weapons unaccounted for since 1998 were "a far-reaching VX nerve agent programme" and "unquantifiable amounts of sarin, botulinum toxin and a host of other biological poisons."

"We are asked now seriously to accept that in the last few years � contrary to all history, contrary to all intelligence � Saddam decided unilaterally to destroy those weapons. I say that such a claim is palpably absurd," he thundered.

Again, he was seriously misleading the Commons. The report had made it clear that any "unaccounted for" sarin, VX and botulinum toxin would have degraded by 2003 � and thus no longer be effective in warfare.

Next, Blair turned to the defection in 1995 of Saddam�s son-in-law, Hussein Kamal, who had been interviewed by international weapons inspectors after arriving in Jordan.

Kamal, said Blair, had disclosed an extensive biological weapons programme "and, for the first time, said that Iraq had weaponised the programme."

This sounded scary � unless you happened to know the rest of the story. Kamal � who�d been in charge of Iraq�s chemical and biological weapons programmes � had also insisted that all of Iraq�s WMDs had been destroyed on his orders.

Had Kamal merely pretended to defect in order to sow disinformation? Unlikely. Some months after briefing the inspectors, he was lured back to Iraq by Saddam, who promptly had him executed.

Arguably, Blair�s most hair-raising pitch to Parliament was the possibility of Saddam giving terrorists WMDs or even "a so-called dirty radiological bomb". This, he said, was "in my judgement, a real and present danger to Britain and its national security."

What he didn�t mention was that he�d recently received an intelligence assessment which said:

1. There was no intelligence that Iraq had provided chemical or biological materials to al-Qaeda or had any intentions to aid terrorist attacks;

2. If Saddam�s regime collapsed, there was a risk such material could fall into the hands of terrorists;

3. Al-Qaeda and associated groups continued to represent by far the greatest terrorist threat to Western interests - and that threat would be heightened by military action against Iraq.

MPs duly passed the motion to go to war, by an overwhelming 412 votes to 149.

# ? Jul 6, 2016 10:22

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# ? May 21, 2024 22:05

Mia Wasikowska: Oct 7, 2006

at least you guys had an inquiry

# ? Jul 6, 2016 10:43

Fast Luck: Feb 2, 1988

The 120-page executive summary is embedded in this article, which opens with 5 paragraphs of Tony Blair saying he's glad the report says he didn't do anything wrong
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/06/europe/uk-iraq-inquiry-chilcot-report/

# ? Jul 6, 2016 13:00

R. Guyovich: Dec 25, 1991

he is, op.

# ? Jul 6, 2016 13:22

Scrub-Niggurath: Nov 27, 2007

yeah ghost writer was a pretty good movie

# ? Jul 6, 2016 13:33

paul_soccer10: Mar 28, 2016; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

quote:

Mustard constituted an important part of Iraq�s CW [chemical weapons] arsenal - 550 mustard filled shells and up to 450 mustard filled aerial bombs unaccounted for."

haha mustard

# ? Jul 6, 2016 14:12

GOOD TIMES ON METH: Mar 17, 2006; Fun Shoe

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/750649573245329408

# ? Jul 6, 2016 14:16

The Vinja Ninja: Mar 16, 2006; Sometimes, time beats you.

Goetta posted:

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/750649573245329408

Octogenarian wars sound so much cooler than sect wars.

Can we just send old people who want to die to war instead of young people? We have the technology

# ? Jul 6, 2016 14:42

Mirthless: Mar 27, 2011; by the sex ghost

paul_soccer10 posted:

haha mustard

You know he only has a problem with it because it came in a bomb rather than a little yellow tin

They're awfully particular about that loving mustard

# ? Jul 6, 2016 14:47

Jose: Jul 24, 2007; Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer

he's currently giving a press conference and repeating all of the lies he used to get the war in the first place lol

# ? Jul 6, 2016 14:51

Zeroisanumber: Oct 23, 2010; Nap Ghost

Goetta posted:

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/750649573245329408

This is why I couldn't get through dinner with David Frum without trying to drown him in the gravy boat.

# ? Jul 6, 2016 16:52

A Winner is Jew: Feb 14, 2008; by exmarx

So is Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and Powel OP.

# ? Jul 7, 2016 00:20

Mia Wasikowska: Oct 7, 2006

A Winner is Jew posted:

So is Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, and Powel OP.

and addington and wolfowitz and yoo and ashcroft and bremer and gonzales and well I could go on

# ? Jul 7, 2016 00:34

Mia Wasikowska: Oct 7, 2006

your guy does really really suck tho

# ? Jul 7, 2016 00:56

30.5 Days: Nov 19, 2006

Zas posted:

your guy does really really suck tho

at least bush was dumb as gently caress whats this guys excuse

# ? Jul 7, 2016 05:03

Jose: Jul 24, 2007; Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer

30.5 Days posted:

at least bush was dumb as gently caress whats this guys excuse

he's a born again catholic who had his chance at re-enacting the crusades

# ? Jul 7, 2016 07:45

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Fast Luck posted:

The 120-page executive summary is embedded in this article, which opens with 5 paragraphs of Tony Blair saying he's glad the report says he didn't do anything wrong
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/06/europe/uk-iraq-inquiry-chilcot-report/

Jose posted:

he's currently giving a press conference and repeating all of the lies he used to get the war in the first place lol

lol

# ? Jul 7, 2016 10:02

Fat-Lip-Sum-41.mp3: Nov 15, 2003

Jose posted:

he's currently giving a press conference and repeating all of the lies he used to get the war in the first place lol

hitler did the same poo poo before he shot himself. literally "i did nothing wrong, it was the jews yadda yadda."

these loving ruler types have their brains wired to never ever accept that they should have done anything different. every single choice they make is optimal "given the circumstances."

# ? Jul 7, 2016 12:14

Condiv: May 7, 2008; Sorry to undo the effort of paying a domestic abuser $10 to own this poster, but I am going to lose my dang mind if I keep seeing multiple posters who appear to be Baloogan.

With love,
a mod

LegoPirateNinja posted:

hitler did the same poo poo before he shot himself. literally "i did nothing wrong, it was the jews yadda yadda."

these loving ruler types have their brains wired to never ever accept that they should have done anything different. every single choice they make is optimal "given the circumstances."

well of course. they always make the wisest, best choice possible. if it doesn't work the other choices would've been a worse result

# ? Jul 7, 2016 12:47

Al!: Apr 2, 2010

LegoPirateNinja posted:

hitler did the same poo poo before he shot himself. literally "i did nothing wrong, it was the jews yadda yadda."

these loving ruler types have their brains wired to never ever accept that they should have done anything different. every single choice they make is optimal "given the circumstances."

well???? Did he????????

# ? Jul 7, 2016 14:22

Karl Barks: Jan 21, 1981

who hasn't started a completely unnecessary war that results in the deaths of possibly millions? let he who has sinned cast the first stone imo

# ? Jul 7, 2016 14:25

Gum: Mar 9, 2008; _{oho, a rapist

time to try this puppy out}

LegoPirateNinja posted:

hitler did the same poo poo before he shot himself. literally "i did nothing wrong

what a memelord

# ? Jul 7, 2016 21:25

Farmer Crack-Ass: Jan 2, 2001; this is me posting irl

Karl Barks posted:

who hasn't started a completely unnecessary war that results in the deaths of possibly millions? let he who has sinned cast the first stone imo

gently caress... my wanton warmongering in Command & Conquer and Total Annihilation... so many weapons of mass destruction......... truly i am damned in the eyes of The Lord

# ? Jul 7, 2016 23:45

Generic Monk: Oct 31, 2011

blair is approaching lichdom at this point

# ? Jul 8, 2016 00:34

Henry Kissinger: May 17, 2016; by Shine

Tony Blair isn't so bad. Definitely not a war criminal.

# ? Jul 8, 2016 02:05

SirJohnnyMcDonald: Oct 24, 2010; by exmarx

eat poo poo, kissinger :argh:

# ? Jul 8, 2016 02:17

Henry Kissinger: May 17, 2016; by Shine

Friends call me Henry, but you can call me "Secretary Kissinger" or "Dr. Kissinger"

# ? Jul 8, 2016 02:25

stephenfry: Nov 3, 2009; I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.
I AM AN IDIOT.

Henry Kissinger posted:

Friends call me Henry, but you can call me "Secretary Kissinger" or "Dr. Kissinger"

Do you answer to a Department of Corrections number?

# ? Jul 8, 2016 05:49

Dr. Fishopolis: Aug 31, 2004; ROBOT

does this mean the PLP is finally going to slink away into a corner and accept the fact that they're no longer relevant or popular?

(no. no it does not.)

# ? Jul 8, 2016 17:03

Baka-nin: Jan 25, 2015

Dr. Fishopolis posted:

does this mean the PLP is finally going to slink away into a corner and accept the fact that they're no longer relevant or popular?

(no. no it does not.)

He's not in the PLP anymore but Prezza's turned on him http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36756878 perhaps there will be a few more old hands scrambling to point the finger.

# ? Jul 10, 2016 09:20

Top City Homo: Oct 15, 2014; Ramrod XTreme

# ? Jul 12, 2016 10:59

Mc Do Well: Aug 2, 2008; by FactsAreUseless

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQDEUzu7BzI

# ? Jul 12, 2016 11:34

Teikanmi: Dec 16, 2006; by R. Guyovich

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avcS0aYJ2a8

# ? Jul 13, 2016 06:57

Top City Homo: Oct 15, 2014; Ramrod XTreme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgO1LUijb0k&t=46s

# ? Jul 13, 2016 07:10

Nebakenezzer: Sep 13, 2005; The Mote in God's Eye

Oh come on OP, is it illegal to plan a war of aggression? I don't think so.

Is it a crime to lie to voters and their body of representatives to get a nation involved in a war? Of course not.

Is it wrong to create ever greater terror threats while pretending to act to quell them? The voters clearly don't think so, and I've used the threat of terror to take away their civil rights. As long as the old and the feeble and the reactionary are the only voters that matter in a first past the post system, I just have to make peace with certian ways of doing things if I want to be loyal to my class. It can't be helped. Democracy is a fine idea; but it doesn't really work, especially in Britain.

Oh, and if all these things are crimes? Let me quote a Star Trek Deep Space 9 episode title at you: Inter arma enim silent leges. Checkmate.* :smugdog:

*And I guess this counts retroactively for stuff that was actually criminal before war was declared

# ? Jul 14, 2016 16:48

Farmer Crack-Ass: Jan 2, 2001; this is me posting irl

it doesn't matter if they were crimes because they happened in the past, and we mustn't be sanctimonious

# ? Jul 14, 2016 17:20

Lord of Pie: Mar 2, 2007

Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, and Dubya were all in the same room in Little Rock this week and nature tried to take em out but unfortunately all that structural asbestos in Central High is still pretty solid

# ? Jul 18, 2016 02:26

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# ? May 21, 2024 22:05

angular guitar: Nov 9, 2005

Don't forget he also oversaw the obviously staged suicide of David Kelly, a bioweapons expert who disproved WMD claims. Dead from an arterial wound with no significant bloodstains nearby and no fingerprints on the knife.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kelly_(weapons_expert)#Hutton_Inquiry

# ? Jul 22, 2016 00:27

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > Tony Blair is a war criminal