The Iraq Inquiry - Chilcott's Circus Clowns Come to Town

[Jan Klimkowski]

The inquiry by Chilcott very much reminds me of the Iraq weapons inquiry by Lord Justice Scott that took place shortly after Margaret Thatcher was tossed out of power. Despite all the excited trailing in the media, by Richard Norton-Taylor and others, building great expectations of justice that was soon to be visited on us long suffering Brits for the wrongs done to us by Her Nibs, the report - as was to be expected by anyone with even a dim insight on how government works - a complete load of bollocks.

But it achieved what it was intended to --- it earthed the boiling anger and discontent.

Tone has nothing to fear.

Yes, I agree in general.

However, in their weasly, highly calculated, mandarin testimony, both Meyer & Greenstock said, essentially, "It was all legal if distateful, but if it's proven that there was a secret high-level deal between the Americans and the Brits to get Saddam regardless, then we knew nothing, guv. Such a deal, if indeed it did exist, was agreed between Blair and Bush personally, and we were out of the loop."

Goldsmith didn't show any courage at the time, but is now allowing his private correspondence to be leaked to cover his own sorry ass similarly.

It is of course almost impossible to imagine that Chilcott would grow a pair and state that the British and Americans agreed on regime change in Iraq and then tried to cook up legal cover. But if Chilcott even suggested this, the British establishment apparitchiks are already cackling mad mandarin laughter at how they've stitched up Blair, attempting to render him solely responsible for the pre-meditated regime change option.

A plague on all their houses.