Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: It is now impossible to trust any 'official' inquiry into Iraq
The Government seems to have institutionalised duplicity
Digg
del.icio.us
Facebook
Reddit
Google
Stumble Upon
Fark
Newsvine
YahooBuzz
Bebo
Twitter
Independent Minds
I watched a report on Fallujah last week on Sky News by Lisa Holland for which she deserves our gratitude and a top television award. It featured a quietly spoken Iraqi neo-natal specialist, Dr Muntaha Hashim, who is finding that in that town, bombed and collectively punished by the allies, there has been a massive increase in the number of deformed babies. Dr Hashim sees children with two heads – one, a young girl with bountiful hair was curled up on a bed – and others limbless, or born without vital organs. The number has doubled since the days of Saddam.
Some unidentified chemical weaponry is responsible. Pro-war politicians, dodgy spooks, spin doctors and unrepentant media warriors such as Christopher Hitchens still claim triumphantly the war was a victory of good over evil. Their own offspring will not be born with two heads and, they must believe, Iraqis are paying but a small price for 'freedom'.
We will never know what was done in Fallujah in our name. We will not be told the full truth on the victimisation of civilians in Basra either, nor on the global "renditions" industry, which provides us with information obtained under torture from alleged terrorists, and certainly not on our productive links with some of the world's most diabolical regimes.
In our supposedly free and open democracy we are not even entitled to know the truth about why we went to war in Iraq – a war which made terrorism respectable and convinced millions of Muslims that the West had embarked on a new crusade.
As a good citizen, I make it my business to question MPs and peers who supported the false case made for the Iraq war. I meet with practiced insouciance or unwarranted fury, or that most base of excuses: "I believed what I was told". Contrition hardly makes an appearance. Most do not want to be dragged back to those difficult days. Even Chris Mullin, whose published diaries are delightful, was against the war but succumbed to Blair's charm offensive and voted to prevent an inquiry – a stand I find inexplicable and unforgivable.
The issue of Iraq is the cut on the body politic that seeps and will not heal, as a constant reminder of the wounded country our soldiers leave behind. In a recent BBC poll over 70 per cent of Britons want an open and credible inquiry on it. Millions more want another on the use of torture allegedly sanctioned by the Government.
The attorney general has, to her credit, decided the latter needs to be investigated through the criminal justice system, and we are now given a vague promise of some kind of investigation on Iraq, probably deep indoors, some years hence. David Miliband has said: "I am obsessed with the next five years in Iraq, not the last five". We seem to have institutionalised duplicity in the executive, judiciary, intelligence services, Parliament and the Privy Council (the 'privy' is, of course, a water closet where nasty stuff is dumped and washed out). And those in power will, after feigned concern, simply flush the burning issues away.
You cannot trust our masters not to cover their tracks and it is now impossible to trust those they choose to lead investigations into improper conduct. Remember Hutton. Remember Butler.
It is a very British response, that is so clearly illustrated by the interminable Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday. In 1972 Lord Widgery decided the army did no wrong. Another inquiry was set up 10 years ago under Lord Saville. It still has to deliver a judgement. By the time it does – after spending millions of pounds – few will care.
Meanwhile, all the key players who lied grievously and sexed-up evidence have got away with it. More sickening still, the once conjoined twins Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell are today endowed with respect. Blair struts around the world stage believing himself to be a Mandela figure, a peace prophet. Campbell gets plaudits for his panache, a novel, his wit, intelligence and cockiness.
Carne Ross, a former Foreign Office advisor on Iraq, says we were duped. Brian Jones, former head of arms intelligence at the MOD believes the "dossier" was manipulated by Downing Street. According to Lord Bingham, Britain broke international law. Nick Clegg wants a full public inquiry, so too the families of soldiers killed in action. And Iraqis want to know who is responsible for the cries of grieving mothers as they deliver malformed foetuses. They will all wait in vain, I fear. There is no atonement, only glory for the sinners. Perhaps God really is on their side.
y.alibhaibrown@independent.co.uk
More from Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.
- Print Article
- Email Article
-
Click here for copyright permissions
Copyright 2009 Independent News and Media Limited
Comments
Not only was the war a crime against Iraq it was also a crime against the British people.
Most of the people involved still have many years to live. They should start reflecting that there have been plenty of people stood in the dock at the Haige, who at the time of committing their crimes, and for some time afterwards, did not think they would be brought to justice.
The politicians and others involved in this deceit should spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulder, and if there is justice, one day a hand will be on it.
This is moral, financial and intellectual bankruptcy. It is far too early to despair that justice will never be seen. But the real decisions must be made by ordinary people: do we sit and wait for more lies and corruption, like Zimbabwe, or do we demand change. The omens for change are good. The "unwarranted fury" reflects a growing panic that nemesis is stirring. And of course a rushed and passionate revenge is simply not very British - it will in due course be served cold.
The Government seems to have institutionalised duplicity
In the similar column, we read the following. Less than three years ago, Mr Brown was delivering condescending lectures to the Germans about the superiority of his way of doing things.
Bruce Anderson: Stop lecturing us Mr Brown ? you'll have time enough next year
Frau Merkel, for one, is in no mood to buy an ill-thought-out fiscal package.
Now we talk. We have nothing in the Iraq wars as today, Monday, March 30, 2009, we see Sunnis kill more of Iraqi soldiers and these keeps on going. What we have is now the division between Sunni and Shia, the problem we feared most. Who want anything from Mr. Brown, who has little to offer the public of UK? Yasmin, where are you aiming at? What is the official inquiry? I suggest the best way to settle these is to bring back the British soldiers and count the cost and never to go to war. Defend self and no offense. These will make money for UK.
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla
There are tanks removed to the US that are so radioactively "hot" to stand next to them for any length of time would constitute a health hazard, this is the legacy of Depleted Uranium, traces of which used in Iraq can be detected here in the UK.
1000's of US Veteran's have developed strange diseases and unknown and uncurable ailments, veterans that have returned to the family fold have been noticed to suffer a rise in birth defects.
Cancer's are on the sharp increase in Iraq across the board, birth defects in a country that had a low incidence level now suffers a major amount every year.
And still Washington and London maintain Depleted Uranium armaments are safe and not responsible.
Dr Rokke, former Pentagon Director of DU munitions towards the end of an interview in regards to unprotected highly radioactive Abrams tanks left in railways sidings of built up areas in Kansas...
"But beyond the ignored mandatory actions, the willful dispersal of tons of solid radioactive and chemically toxic waste in the form of uranium munitions just does not even pass the common sense test."
Dr. Rokke urged, "the president of the United States, George W. Bush, and the prime minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair, must acknowledge and accept responsibility for willful use of illegal uranium munitions - their own "dirty bombs" - resulting in adverse health and environmental effects."
So it is not "unidentified chemical weaponry", it is a weaponry that has been fully identified and buried behind a government wall of silence, now go look at Gaza and notice the same upsurges in medical conditions... that is because Israel uses the same DU munitions as the US supplies it, it don't take a genius...
Quite right, it doesn't take a genius to know what has caused these mutations and illnesses, but it does take an honest approach by our news media. The vast majority of people do not know about depleted uranium weapons and their effects, or about phosphorous bombs. It is in the public interest to know what happened in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Gaza (to name but a few), because the effects of these disgusting weapons will be with us for generations.
One thing I do feel happy about personally, is the fact that I am in the autumn of my life and will not have to put up with much more of the same.. I am so sick of witnessing the daily revelation of so much deceit in so many areas of officialdom and public life. I feel sorry for the future generations, our grandchildren.
Then why did you jounos accept the Hutton report. Read his report and particularly the last group of sentences at the end of the mid section. Here he gives his reasoning as to how he accepts changes to the intelligence report. This was Bliar's 'Get out of Jail free card'. All Hutton's conclusions flowed from this premise. It is why Bliar got off scott free, even though guilty. I read the report, why didn't you do the analysis off it and tear it apart.
LOVE K.D.
Who's responsible and whose mistake was it?
That would imply that the three previous commission of enquiries into the Iraq war were a sham, a whitewash and yet another example of the British establishment closing ranks to protect its own against a bothersome public. Shame on your unwarranted cynicism.
Do you mean by this, Syed, that the results must agree with what YOU believe to be the facts otherwise the government cannot be trusted? If so, why don't you just list your "facts" together with your verifable evidence and then we don't need to bother with an enquiry. The one question remains, however: how come you are so smart and knowledgable and how did you get hold of all the verifiable evidence??
Yasmin, you trust the UK too much!
This country Rule Britannia has colonized for 400 years, looted gold, diamonds, killed millions of natives in Africa, Asia.
They never had an official inquiry into that, you think they have it now?
The only official inquiry would be the Hague?
By now he would have Nuclear Weapons! The man was a meglomaniac and would, eventually, have made another play at dominating the Middle East whether Kuwait again or Saudi Arabia.
I supported the attack because he needed stopping and find it sad that the Politicians had to lie for reasons.
i support his greatest enemy , the islamic republic of iran
i am hoping that the I R I soon acheives what saddam could not , the destrution of the zionist entiy that currently squats on the land of palestine . although ,it must be said . i would support auld hornie himself if it would hasten the removal of that den of theives from the levant
And we wonder why we have terrorism, because United States and Britain has no accountability they can lie kill women and children destroy entire countries and they can rest easy because they know we don't live in a democracy.
They don't have to account for their actions to anyone expressly the people that supposedly elected them. How many times how many lives are we going to let them take before we put a stop to this.
They hide behind this charade of National Security, to prevent inquiries into their conduct.
If bush and Tony Blair lied about Iraq then why are we to believe in what they said about Afghanistan?
Voting in itself and electing term dictator's is not a democracy.
the only point to an enquirey is to give the govt. a chance to admit what is blindingly obvious.
We know they lied to us and probably to themselves to pursue an agenda that just doesn't work. There's no mystery; the neocons openly said they think they can win by killing the enemy and that they think that's a good idea and we threw our lot in with them. That kind of very primitive thinking is bound from the outset to demand lies to prop it up simply because it isn't true and one lie necessitates another, it also creates misery for years to come.
It is known that some Zionists in the US government had signed a statement in 1995 saying that Iraq must be brought down to protect Israel. After 9-11 they committed fraud to sell the war to the American public. Will they be brought to justice? Unlikely. The news media will protect them.
It is impossible to trust ANY inquiry into Iraq. Parties, factions, media outlets and various other "sides" have already made up their mind, there is NO even quasi-official body in Britain that will deliver an impartial verdict and no way that the British people as a whole will accept whatever verdict is reached by whatever panel.
People have made up their minds and do not wish to be confused by facts.
Thanks for being among those willing to take on those who want us to "take the rear-view mirrors off the bus".
The sexed up dossier writer is knighted; usually guaranteed to ensure silence. Witnesses die unexpectedly. The executive are too dense to see they are being manipulated. Oh yes; as Yasmin writes ... it is all a very British response.
But if the public had really cared, they had their opportunity to pass judgement in 2005 ... and ducked it. That too was a very British response.
It means each individual reclaiming an active role in world affairs. It means that we stop saying we have no time, no energy, no resources... and face the fact that these are just shabby excuses for yielding to our own fears -- not our fear of losing the battle, so much as our fear of losing the things we've been told we own. Each person who succeeds in this effort helps kindle the spark of hope in themselves and others, and each time someone fails they help to dowse the light of hope. So are we each willing to walk away from a lifetime's material possessions, possibly even to risk our lives in the cause of freedom?... Ask yourself: are you already looking for the back door? the way out of this predicament? have you lit the signal for Batman to come save you yet?... Yes? Then you've only yourself to blame for all this, because the bad guys could never commit these crimes without our complicity.