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March 25, 2008

For Paul Staines aka Guido Fawkes, a question

To paraphrase the HUAC, that marvelous yet unlamented body of right wing thought:

"Paul, are you now or have you ever been bankrupt?"

Please note, we're talking fiscal here.

See also questions from Tim and Justin.

Posted by Clive at 12:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 19, 2008

March 2003

19th March 2003, my son was 3 years old and yet to start school; my company was prospering; my mother was still alive; all was right with life for me, while in Iraq the clock was counting down.

Fast-forward 5 years....

My son has been at school for more than half his life; my daughter has doubled in age; my mother is dead; my company is winding down; I've changed job twice. A lot has happened in 5 years, half a decade can encompass a vast number of changes.

But in Iraq the fighting continues, and with no end in sight. All the big questions regarding the invasion of Iraq remain unanswered and it may well be for my potential grand-children to know the answers.

If a week is a long time in politics, 5 years is an eternity.

Bush got his second term, Blair won an election before moving on to more lucrative pastures. Politicians who supported this travesty of peace, democracy and justice have on the whole furthered their careers.

But in Iraq the fighting continues.

The media still report the death of every British person killed in the conflict as a tragedy. The MoD still sends out troops inadequately equipped. The big news is economic and financial, the credit crunch and possible recession.

Yet yesterday another 28 Iraqi civilians were killed as a consequence of our invasion of a sovereign state. Somewhere between 82,000 and 90,000 civilians have suffered violent deaths in the 5 years since we went in to free Iraqis from the tyrannical Saddam Hussein. Up to 18,000 deaths each year, 1,500 a month or about 50 a day, every day for the last 5 years.

And those weasel words, "somewhere between", "about", "up to". Because after all this time, we still don't know how many civilian deaths we are responsible for, how much blood our hands are drenched with. It looks like we're trying to give Saddam a good run for his money, and beat the thousands of Iraqi's killed by their own leaders over a 20 year period.

The situation we've created in Iraq is disgusting and unacceptable. Yet we fail to hold our leaders truly to account. We're all complicit.

Posted by Clive at 8:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack