Saddam lawyer seeking
consent to prosecute former UK PM Blair for war crimes
Monday, December 14, 2009 - Saddam Hussein's former lawyer on Saturday asked the British
attorney general for consent to prosecute former prime minister Tony
Blair for violations of the
Geneva Conventions.
Giovanni di Stefano, who represents
former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz,
sent a letter asking for consent to prosecute Blair after
Blair said in a BBC interview aired Sunday that he would have invaded
Iraq even if he knew there were no weapons of mass
destruction. According to the letter:
In summary the allegation
against ANTONY CHARLES LYNTON BLAIR involves a violation of offences
within the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 which without doubt and by his
own admission can only but be deemed "not justified by military
necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly."
The attorney general's office
has not yet commented on the request.
Sir John Chilcot is chairing the Iraq Inquiry,
which began investigations in November to
determine the legality of the Iraq War. Last month, a letter leaked to
the Iraq Inquiry indicated that former UK attorney general Peter
Goldsmith warned Blair that the planned
invasion of Iraq could be illegal.
Earlier in November, documents
implicating improper and possibly illegal conduct in relation to the war
were leaked to the British press. In October, a UK High
Court criticized the Ministry of Defence for its failure
to properly set up an independent inquiry into claims that war crimes
had been committed by British soldiers following the so-called
"Battle of Danny Boy" in southern Iraq.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu
Report Blames US Military
Leaders for Missing Bin Laden in 2001
29 November 2009 - Senate
report says former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the top US
military commander General Tommy Franks rejected requests for a massive
contingent of American troops to attack Tora Bora mountains.
A U.S. Senate report says top
military leaders during the Bush administration had an opportunity to
capture or kill Osama bin Laden in December 2001 in Afghanistan, but
they failed to send enough American troops to attack his hideout.
The report, by staff of the
Senate Foreign Relations committee, concludes that U.S. special forces,
CIA officers and Afghan troops had chased the al Qaida leader and his
deputy, Ayman al Zawahri, to the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan, but
former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the top U.S. military
commander, General Tommy Franks, rejected requests for a massive
contingent of American troops to attack the area...
http://www1.voanews.com
Blair and a deal signed in
blood: PM and Bush had secret plan to topple Saddam, says envoy
Last updated at 7:46 AM on
27th November 2009 - Britain's former ambassador to the U.S. Sir
Christopher Meyer arriving to give evidence to the Iraq inquiry
yesterday
Tony Blair and George Bush
'signed in blood' a secret deal to topple Saddam Hussein almost a year
before Iraq was invaded, Britain's former U.S. ambassador suggested
yesterday.
Sir Christopher Meyer said the
ex-Prime Minister's stance on Iraq 'tightened' a day after the two men
spent an afternoon meeting in private at the former President's family
ranch in Texas.
He also told the Iraq Inquiry
that officials found themselves 'scrabbling to find a smoking gun' to
prove Saddam had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) while
the U.S. prepared troops for the 2003 conflict.
And in an embarrassing jibe at
Mr Blair, Sir Christopher said Margaret Thatcher would not have allowed
herself to be handbagged by the White House in the same way...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk
Blair and Bush 'agreed' on
Iraq regime change in private 2002 Crawford Ranch meeting
Last updated at 5:03 PM on
26th November 2009 - Britain's former ambassador to the U.S. Sir
Christopher Meyer arriving to give evidence to the Iraq inquiry today
Tony Blair and George W. Bush
may have 'signed in blood' their agreement to oust Saddam Hussein in
secret talks almost a year before the start of the war in Iraq, it was
revealed today.
Sir Christopher Meyer,
Britain's ambassador to the U.S. at the time, recounted how the two
leaders spent hours speaking in private at the President's ranch in
Texas in April 2002.
The very next day, the Prime
Minister gave one of his most significant speeches about the Iraqi
leader, declaring that he was too dangerous to be ignored and mentioning
'regime change' publicly for the very first time.
Sir Christopher told the Iraq
inquiry that the talks appeared to be a major turning point in Mr
Blair's view on the threat posed by Saddam and British policy.
Condoleeza Rice had told him
within hours of the September 11 attacks in New York that the U.S. was
already considering whether there was any link between the atrocity and
the Iraqi Leader, the former top diplomat said.
But he said Mr Blair was
insistent at that time that there had to be a 'laser-like' focus on Al
Qaeda and Afghanistan and Iraq should not come into the equation.
It was not until the meeting
at the Crawford Ranch in 2002 that there was a major shift and British
and American policy appeared to come together, he said.
By that point, Britain
realised that it would be a 'complete waste of time' to try and talk
America out of its stance and so instead moved to focus on securing UN
approval...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk