Just Another Day In Iraq

He says he can pinpoint the root of his problems back to an incident in Basra in the first month of the Iraq invasion, seven years ago. "We were told to hit and clear an enemy building," says Dale. "The tanks opened up on the building and we went in, firing, throwing grenades in every room. We thought there was no one firing back because of the weight of fire. But when we got in there, it wasn't an enemy building, it was just a normal family. There were about seven of them in total. Dead children lying all over the floor." It was 27 March, 2003, his 33rd birthday.

As platoon sergeant he had to clear the casualties: "I really struggled hard with it. We were always told that we had to go in gently, not to injure any civilians. Me and the corporal got together afterwards and we knew what we'd done was wrong. But you tried not to talk about it."

My conclusion is that this victim of the Iraq debacle still doesn't understand his own part in it. Full story here.

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Tony Blair and Oil

Revealed: Tony Blair’s secret oil links to Middle East

Paul Waugh
19.03.10

Tony Blair's secret links to Gulf oil giants were revealed today as fresh details emerged of his “carte blanche” support for George Bush's Iraq war.

The former prime minister has been in the pay of the Kuwaiti government and a South Korean oil firm for up to 18 months, a parliamentary watchdog has revealed.

But the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments allowed Mr Blair to keep his contracts secret because of “market sensitivities” and because the Kuwaitis requested confidentiality.

In a further revelation, a classified memo from Mr Blair to President Bush showed the full extent of his support for the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

The personal note — which has been seen by the Chilcot Inquiry but not released by the Government — shows that Mr Blair wrote: “You know, George, whatever you decide to do, I'm with you.”

The contents of the memo, which is buried in Andrew Rawnsley's book The End Of The Party, confirm the exact words Mr Blair used to offer his strong backing for Bush in July 2002, eight months before the invasion.

The Chilcot committee was barred from quizzing Mr Blair publicly about the private notes to the US president when he gave evidence in January. Downing Street has refused permission to release the secret documents.

Rawnsley's book shows that Sir Christopher Meyer, Britain's ambassador to the US, reacted with astonishment when he saw the note.

He phoned Mr Blair's foreign policy adviser Sir David Manning, saying: “Why in God's name has he said that again?”

Sir David replied: “We tried to stop him... but he wouldn't listen.”

Winning Hearts and Minds in Afghanistan

Guerra in Afghanistan
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