[Peace-discuss] Venice & misleaders

Sat Jan 22 15:43:25 CST 2011

     Chilcot inquiry: The bare facts on Iraq are there for all to see, Mr Blair
     The former prime minister's responses to key questions on Iraq are,
     to put it charitably, elusive and less than complete
         * Philippe Sands
         * guardian.co.uk, Friday 21 January 2011 21.35 GMT

The questions sent by the Chilcot Inquiry to Tony Blair make crystal clear the 
key issues on which the report will focus.

In the run up to the war these include: the timing, nature and extent of 
commitments given to President Bush; the preparation and presentation of 
intelligence; the circumstances of the decision to return to the United Nations; 
the role of the attorney general and the effect of his legal advice at various 
stages; the role of the cabinet; and the presentation of information to 
parliament and the public.

Mr Blair's responses to those questions are, to put it charitably, elusive and 
less than complete. But once the fluff is stripped away, today's defensive 
testimony, the written answers and the totality of the evidence before the 
tribunal points to a simple story: the prime minister took an early decision to 
support President Bush in the quest to remove Saddam, assured him repeatedly of 
his unequivocal statement of support, ignored the law, and deprived the cabinet 
and parliament of key information.

In short, Mr Blair managed to skilfully lead the entire machinery of government 
— attorney general, cabinet, parliament — into a place from which British 
involvement in the war became inevitable.

Mr Blair has paid a big price for delivering his commitment to President Bush: 
his legacy is an unlawful and disastrous conflict that continues to cause misery 
and claim lives, shredding public trust in government, diminishing Britain's 
role in the world, and undermining the rule of law. To the Chilcot inquiry falls 
the task of picking up the pieces.

Philippe Sands QC is professor of law, University College London, and a 
barrister at Matrix Chambers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/21/chilcot-inquiry-iraq-tony-blair?INTCMP=SRCH

On 1/22/11 3:13 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> ["...one of the—maybe the most—elementary of moral principles is that of 
> universality, that is, If something’s right for me, it’s right for you; if 
> it’s wrong for you, it’s wrong for me. Any moral code that is even worth 
> looking at has that at its core somehow. But that principle is overwhelmingly 
> disregarded all the time. If you want to run through examples we can easily do 
> it. Take, say, George W. Bush ... If you apply the standards that we applied 
> to Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, he’d be hanged. Is it an even conceivable 
> possibility? It’s not even discussable. Because we don’t apply to ourselves 
> the principles we apply to others." --Noam Chomsky]
>
> They used to behead men like Tony Blair
> As former PM goes back before the Iraq Inquiry,
> Crispin Black shares his thoughts on retribution
> By Crispin Black
> LAST UPDATED 7:49 AM, JANUARY 21, 2011
>
> Go to Venice to see how a vigorous state, proud of its democratic system of 
> government, dealt with a ruler who sought illegally to concentrate supreme 
> decision-making power to himself alone. To be precise, go to the hall of the 
> Maggior Consiglio in the Doge's Palace.
> Drag your eyes away from Tintoretto's astonishing Paradise, which covers the 
> end wall, and look up to your left at the frieze of portraits showing the 
> first 76 Doges.
> Where there should be a representation of Marino Faliero (Doge 1354-55) there 
> is instead a painted black veil bearing the words: 'Hic est locus Marini 
> Faletro decapitati pro criminibus' - 'This is the place of Marino Faliero, 
> beheaded for his crimes'.
> The whole device was designed as a powerful and permanent warning, not to 
> Venice's people - they were not allowed in the chamber - but to Venice's 
> ruling elite.
> Faliero was a distinguished military leader, elected Doge when 75 years old, 
> but with a solipsistic contempt for the petty laws, customs and state offices 
> the Venetian Republic had evolved in its first 500 years to limit the power of 
> its elected head of state.
> He judged that Venice would be better ruled by him alone as Prince, maybe with 
> the help of one or two chums. The plot was uncovered by the Council of Ten 
> (roughly equivalent to the modern cabinet) who in alliance with Venice's 
> magistrates and its chiefs of police (the evocatively named Signori di Notte) 
> moved with extraordinary speed and confidence.
>
> The conspirators, including Faliero, were arrested, tried and sentenced within 
> 48 hours. In addition to the penalty for treason customary in the less 
> politically correct 14th Century, the Republic saw fit to confiscate all of 
> Faliero's considerable wealth, except for a small legacy of 2,000 ducats to 
> his widow.
> Fast forward 650 years to a United Kingdom trying to hold a political leader 
> to account for deciding apparently by himself to prosecute a probably illegal 
> war.
> Along the way this leader concluded what amounted to a secret treaty with a 
> foreign power to allow them unrestricted use of our armed forces - without the 
> authority of either Cabinet or Parliament - but because, in his judgment, it 
> was a good idea.
> Where are the Signori di Notte when we need them? Instead we have the Iraq 
> Inquiry - a group of establishment worthies who give 'soft cop' interrogations 
> a bad name, backed by terms of reference so flaccid that it seeks only to 
> 'learn lessons' not to 'apportion blame'.
> It has no power even to order the publication of key documents, such as Tony 
> Blair's letters to President Bush, let alone recommend prosecutions. Even if 
> Sir Roderick Lyne, the only member of the panel with any forensic skill, 
> manages to drive a stake through Blair's multiple evasions today, it won't 
> amount to a hill of beans.
> Blair will leave the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre at the end of the 
> session, rejoin a security detail that would be over the top even in a banana 
> republic, and be Range-Rovered off into the sunset to spend more time on his 
> perma-tan and his millions.
> And unless the current government is prepared to take things further, there is 
> nothing anyone can do. Cameron and Clegg won't, of course, act against a 
> fellow member of a political class more closed even than Venice's 14th Century 
> elite.
> But perhaps tonight, as David Cameron climbs the stairs at Number 10 past the 
> photographs of his predecessors - our modern version of the frieze of the 
> Doges - he will pause in front of the photograph of Tony Blair and contemplate 
> the reckless damage he caused our country.
> We can't expect a black veil over the photograph. But what about a small 
> Post-It note, even if it just obscures Tony's self-satisfied grin?
> For the rest of us - if you are anywhere near Manchester Square today, you 
> might pop into the Wallace Collection and draw comfort from Delacroix's great 
> painting of ex-Doge Faliero learning his lesson.
>
> Read more: 
> http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/74017,news-comment,news-politics,they-used-to-behead-men-like-tony-blair-iraq-inquiry#ixzz1BncJyRkW 
>
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