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

[Peter Presland]

So far I have seen no reference to the demonstration outside the Chilcott Inquiry venue in the UK MSM. Wide coverage of his questioning so far with the consensus being they haven't laid a glove on him yet.

It's left to Middle East On Line to come up with this:

First Published 2010-01-29


'He does not have the integrity to come and face the people'
Demonstrators' anger as Blair slips into Iraq inquiry

Protesters slam 'coward' Blair as former PM avoids public, main entrance of conference centre.

LONDON - Former British prime minister Tony Blair took his seat before the public inquiry into the Iraq war on Friday, at the start of a long-awaited day of questioning into his account of the conflict.
The chairman of the public inquiry, retired civil servant John Chilcot, said the point of the questioning was to establish "Why did we invade Iraq?".
Relatives of soldiers killed in the conflict are among the audience watching the evidence in a central London conference venue.
Anti-war protesters accused Blair of being a "coward" Friday after reports that he was driven into the building hosting the Iraq war inquiry through a side entrance.
Blair did not enter the central London conference centre through the front exit, reporters said.
A motorcade swept into a side entrance of the building at 0730 GMT, two hours before Blair was due to give evidence, although there was no immediate confirmation that Blair was in one of the vehicles.
Hundreds of demonstrators outside the Queen Elizabeth II centre chanted "Tony Blair, War Criminal" as police lines held them behind crash barriers.
Activists said they were convinced Blair had given them the slip.
Lindsey German, convener of the Stop The War Coalition, said: "He doesn't have the decency or honesty to face up to the public, military families, and Iraqis who will be here today in huge numbers to show their opposition to the war.
"He does not have the integrity to come and face the people.
"Sliding in by a back door entrance is typical of his lies, deceit and evasion."
Kate Hudson, chairwoman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said Blair should be arrested and put on trial for crimes against humanity.
"He should face a court. The way he arrived today was just sneaky. He just does not want to face up to his crimes -- it is an outrage," she said.
Reg Keys, whose son Thomas died in Iraq in 2003, said he wanted to hear why Blair approved a dossier used to justify the case for war by claiming Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.
"It's a day we've waited a long time for and I want to hear what he's got to say," Keys said.
"He needs to explain why he misled parliament, why information was changed in the dossier... and why we found our loved ones in a conflict that was very questionable."
Reports said Blair is likely to admit to some mistakes in the execution of the war, but will maintain that he remains satisfied that he committed British troops to the US-led invasion.
Blair left office in June 2007.