With the Chilcot Inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war soon to go public, one big question must be answered, says Oliver Miles: was this a war of aggression and therefore a war crime?
Iraq War
leaked 
Documents reveal Blair’s Iraq cover-up
Documents leaked to the Telegraph have revealed Tony Blair mislead British MPs in 2002 by claiming that his goal in invading Iraq was “disarmament, not regime change” and that the military action was unplanned.
Former British Corporal: My entire unit abused Iraqi civilians
A former British soldier convicted of war crimes in Iraq claims his entire unit physically abused Iraqi detainees, kicking and punching them while down, threatening to set them alight and holding guns to their heads.
revealed 
US security contractor planned a $1m cover-up of Iraqi civilian killings
The US military security contractor formerly known as Blackwater paid $1 million in an attempt to buy Iraqi officials’ silence over the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians by Blackwater guards in 2007, claims the NYT.
revealed 
How the Pentagon used PSYOPS on the US public
New evidence uncovered by Raw Story exposes how the US military’s propaganda arm used “psychological operations” tactics on the US public to sell them on the Iraq War.
85,000 dead in Iraq
The Iraqi government has released its official count of war dead since 2004, claiming more than 85,000 have died — and that doesn’t even include those who died in the 2003 US invasion.
Where have all the war caskets gone?
The answer, my friend, is sitting in the White House. Even though casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to mount, the media has lost all interest in parading images of flag-draped American war caskets since Bush left office, says Byron York.
Anti-war movement struggles without Bush
For many on the Left, opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was really about opposing George W. Bush, says Byron York. Even though the US still has hundreds of thousands of troops fighting in the Middle East, without Dubbya, anti-war campaigners are now struggling to find support.
VIDEO: Baghdad police prepare for withdrawal
Martin Chulov goes on a ride down the Tigris in Baghdad with a police patrol, as the Iraqi police begin to regain control of their capital.
leaked US Army Colonel: “declare victory and go home”
A leaked memo from a senior US military adviser in Iraq says “it’s time for the US to declare victory and go home”, arguing Iraqi forces are now capable on their own and that American forces have outstayed their welcome.
The salesman behind Wall Street’s bull
The strategic communications specialist advising a financial industry effort to enhance Wall Street’s image has plenty of experience in spinning the American public: he was one of the aides in charge of the Bush administration’s fact-bending campaign to sell the Iraq War.
Brown braces for Blair’s battle blunders
Gordon Brown has promised an “unprecedented” inquiry into the invasion of Iraq… to be held behind closed doors.
How Halliburton is avoiding the heat
How has Halliburton, once a poster child of war profiteering, avoided scrutiny from anti-war activists and the media of late?
Go fulfill yourself: John Howard on indigenous Australians
John Howard tells a US interviewer that that Aboriginal people will only ever be “fulfilled” if they become part of mainstream Australia.
Ali Allawi: The attempt to refashion Iraq was doomed
The Iraq war has barely registered in this election campaign. Ali Allawi, Iraq’s former defence and trade minister, is in Australia this week talking about his country’s prospects. Allawi remains disillusioned with the American mission and deeply resents their numerous crimes since 2003, writes Antony Loewenstein.
Campaign snippets
Kev and the Nazis … Stand by your man … PM blows the job … Election sweetners … Howard hits the track … Coalition odds widen …
The Shock Doctrine — alive and well in the NT
In her new book The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein suggests that neo-liberalism today necessarily attaches itself to catastrophe. There’s a lesson there for what’s going on in the NT at the moment, writes Jeff Sparrow.
Sparrow: Rudd mentions the wars, but why?
The Australian soldier recently wounded in Iraq apparently belonged to the contingent that the ALP has promised to bring home. In a sane universe, this would sharply demonstrate the difference between Labor and Liberal policy on Iraq, writes Jeff Sparrow.
Iraq: more deaths than during the Rwandan genocide?
Some time back, the Lancet published a study that put the number of violent deaths attributable to the invasion and occupation of Iraq at 601,000. Now the American group Just Foreign Policy has produced an updated figure, suggesting that to date the war and occupation have killed nearly a million Iraqis.
Iraq to haunt Blair’s new role as well
Tony Blair finally brought his long farewell to a close overnight. In office more than ten years, he is easily the most successful Labour leader ever, as well as the ninth-longest serving British prime minister and, with one exception, the longest serving for more than a century.
