Tag Archives: iraq

Tony Blair On The Rack Over Iraq

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Tony Blair is to be heavily criticised for his role in leading the UK to war in Iraq, according to the Mail on Sunday.

The paper points to a number of damning points, saying:

    • The Chilcot inquiry will criticise Mr Blair for failing to admit a secret pact he made with former president George Bush in 2002.
    • Mr Blair apparently withheld vital information from cabinet colleagues, preferring instead, a ‘sofa style government’ with a close knit group of allies.
    • He was also be heavily criticised for failing to come up with a post war plan for Iraq.
    •  The inquiry is thought to be most damning regarding Mr Blair’s claim to parliament that Saddam Hussein’s possession of WMD was ‘beyond doubt’. Blair claims to have misunderstood the infamous 45 minute claim dossier, in which it was argued that Saddam Hussein could launch WMD in 45 minutes. This claim was later found to be nonsense.

A spokesman for Tony Blair said: “This is a deliberate attempt to pre-judge a report that hasn’t even been written yet. We’re not going comment until it has been published.”

Spin doctor Alistair Campbell and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw are also thought to come in for heavy criticism.

If the allegations prove to be true, what justice will the British public now demand? Some of the criticisms are the result of incompetence or lack of foresight. However, others, such as failing to disclose the secret war pact and the WMD claim, raise a vitally important question. Was there a deliberate attempt to mislead the British public?

We will have to wait until Autumn for the full Chilcot inquiry to be published.

Frost Interviews: Angelina Jolie

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angelinajolieFrost loves Angelina Jolie, she’s talented and open, an amazing mother and a brilliant role model. For her searing honesty, read on….

On Brad Pitt: I met this amazing person, and we realized we had very similar views on how we wanted to live our lives. It’s happened quickly, with so many children. Yesterday, picking up the kids from school, Brad turned around in the car, and there were three of them. He couldn’t stop laughing. We love them and are having a great time.

On Brad with the kids:
“I keep telling Brad he owes me. He’s had a few months off in one of the most beautiful cities in the world with the children. And he’s such an artist and goes to the stone yards and the art exhibits, and loves being in such a cultural place.”

On her busy schedule: “I love it. I like being active, I love being busy and answering a lot of questions. And the children, well, that’s not work. It never is. They are always a pleasure.”

On being open with the media:
I like being able to be really honest. I’ll share everything always because it’s what I want. It helps me continue to do my work that way. And I’ve got nothing to hide and I like sharing with people and I like it when people come up to me and tell me things about themselves. So I’ll never change. And of course there are always going to be things that sound weird or aren’t explained so it’ll probably just get worse, but that’s okay.

On visiting Iraq: Well I came to the region about 6 months ago, I first went to Syria because I work with U.N.H.C.R. and there are 1.5 million refugees in Syria alone from Iraq and while I was there, I went inside and met with some internally displaced people. And this trip is to get a better picture of the internally displaced people and to discuss with the local government, with our government, with the NGOs and with local people, the situation and try to understand what is happening, because there are over 2 million internally displaced people and there doesn’t seem to be a real coherent plan to help them and there’s lots of good will and lot’s of discussion –but there seem to be a lot of uh — just a lot of talk at the moment and a lot of pieces need to be put together. So, trying to figure out what they are.

On plastic surgery: “I haven’t had anything done and I don’t think I will. But if it makes somebody happy then that’s up to them. I’m not in somebody else’s skin to know what makes them feel better about themselves. But I don’t plan to do it myself.”

On nudity: The thing is, [if] it’s important to the film. I never did one before because I thought I had to. It’s not a big deal to be naked. I think it’s a bigger deal to be emotionally naked. I think a woman’s breasts are a woman’s breasts; they don’t freak me out or shock me. It’s just not a big deal. I think it’s appropriate to the story.

On why she acts “I desperately need to communicate with people through films. It’s why I’m alive.”

On her first time working with Johnny Depp: “It turns out we are both a bit reclusive. . .That’s why our paths had never crossed — neither of us attends many parties or goes out very much. Neither of us seems to take ourselves too seriously. And maybe there’s something about being in a place in your life where your family is so central to you that you have a good perspective on it all . . . We got together as families . . . Brad, Vanessa and all the kids; that was lovely. Just family stuff.”