Kirk Smith: Europe

Britain: Parliamentary Probe Exposes Lies on Iraqi Weapons

Thu, 10 Jul 2003 01:47:32 GMT

Part 3: Foreign Secretary Jack Straw

by Robert Stevens and Richard Tyler

07 Jul 03

The following is the conclusion of a three-part series of articles. Part 1: Clare Short, Robin Cook and Andrew Gilligan was posted July 3. and Part 2: Andrew Wilkie and Dr Ibrahim al-Marashi was published July 4.

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee investigation into whether Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour government distorted intelligence material to justify its war against Iraq is to publish its report today.

From extensive leaks to the press, there is every reason to suppose that the Labour-dominated parliamentary committee will largely exonerate the government. However, some of the testimony given to the inquiry contradicts such a conclusion clearly exposing the way the British government set out to sell a previously determined decision to go to war by claiming that Iraq possessed 'weapons of mass destruction'.

In order that this information does not remain buried amidst thousands of pages of undigested transcripts, the World Socialist Web Site is publishing a précis of the most important testimony given. [World Socialist Web Site]

Is Niger the Smoking Gun? Blair Under Fire as White House Rejects British Intelligence Claiming Iraq Tried to Buy Uranium

Wed, 09 Jul 2003 13:29:07 GMT

by Ben Russell and Andrew Buncombe

09 Jul 03

The White House has dealt a devastating blow to Tony Blair by rejecting as flawed British claims that Saddam Hussein attempted to buy uranium from Africa to restart his nuclear weapons programme.

The Bush administration was in full retreat yesterday with officials admitting that the allegation should not have been included in President George Bush's State of the Union address. The American admission represented the first serious split between London and Washington over the case against Saddam and exploded into a full-scale row in Westminster as Mr Blair told senior MPs that the Government was standing by its story.

Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour backbenchers demanded that Mr Blair release the intelligence behind the allegation to an independent inquiry. [Independent/UK]

Strip Blair of Power to Appoint His 'Cronies' to Top Jobs, MPs Demand

Mon, 07 Jul 2003 14:51:59 GMT

by Marie Woolf

07 Jul 03

Tony Blair should be stripped of his power to appoint his friends and Labour 'cronies' to influential public posts, a powerful committee of MPs will recommend this week.

After a year-long inquiry, the committee is to demand an end to the 'closed shop' that gives Mr Blair and ministers the right to make personal appointments to some of the most powerful posts in the land, including governors of the BBC.

It will say that posts such as membership of the House of Commons Committee on Standards in Public Life, which roots out sleaze among MPs, and the Intelligence and Security Commission should not be made by the Prime Minister but by an independent body. American-style hearings should also be held to ensure that the jobs are filled by people who are independent minded.

The report by the House of Commons Public Administration Committee is likely to prove embarrassing for the Prime Minister. It follows controversy over the appointment of several Labour supporters to top jobs, including Greg Dyke as director general of the BBC and Trevor Phillips as chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality. [Independent/UK]

Hunt Activists to Hound Ministers

Sat, 05 Jul 2003 01:48:10 GMT

by Stuart Millar

05 Jul 03

Hunt supporters are planning a campaign of public harassment of government ministers whenever they make an appearance anywhere in the country, as part of a desperate rearguard action to head off a total ban on hunting.

Amid a growing clamour among furious grassroots hunt supporters for more militant direct action, the Guardian has learned that the Countryside Alliance is setting up a full-time unit with the task of organising the 'hounding of ministers'.

The unit will have responsibility for obtaining information on the whereabouts of government figures and deploying instant protests. Using teams of activists across the country, the unit will aim to organise demonstrations with as little as 10 minutes notice.

The main target will be Alun Michael, the rural affairs minister, whose carefully crafted compromise allowing licensed hunts was scuppered on Monday night when more than 300 Labour MPs, including seven Cabinet members, ignored Downing Street to vote in favour of an outright ban. Also in their sights is Elliot Morley, who voted with the rebels despite being number two in the environment department, which is piloting the bill. [The Guardian/UK]

Venice Biennale: Too Much That Was Good on Paper, Was Bad in Practice

Fri, 04 Jul 2003 06:55:51 GMT

by Louisa Buck

04 Jul 03

VENICE. It may have been subtitled 'The dictatorship of the viewer', but the sprawling behemoth that is now the Venice Biennale meant it was usually more the viewer who felt dictated-to by its vast excesses. Curator Francesco Bonami wanted his 'archipelago' of guest-curated shows (sporting such excruciating titles as 'The Structure of Survival'; 'Zones of Emergency' or 'Utopia Station') to communicate the fragmentedly multiple and contradictory nature of today's art, and the world it inhabits, but surely any contemporary art show worth its square meterage should do this anyway? Therefore what was supposed to signal democracy, open-endedness and all-inclusiveness appeared more like an event headed by a curator reluctant to shoulder such a herculean task on his own. [The Art Newspaper]

French Court Frees Iranian Group Leader

Thu, 03 Jul 2003 08:50:39 GMT

by Pierre-Antoine Souchard

03 Jul 03

PARIS. A French court on Wednesday ordered the release of nine people arrested during a recent broad anti-terrorism sweep, including the leader of an exile group seeking to topple Iran's ultra-religious government, judicial officials said.

But the Paris appeals court said Maryam Rajavi, a leader of the group Mujahedeen Khalq, and one other defendant must first pay bail. Rajavi was ordered to pay about $93,000 and likely will not be released before Thursday, the officials said...

France's counterintelligence agency, the DST, claims the Mujahedeen was planning attacks on Iranian diplomatic missions in Europe and assassinations of Iranian secret agents in Europe. It also claims the group was planning to make its headquarters a nerve center for terrorism after losing its firepower in Iraq, where it mounted attacks on neighboring Iran. [Associated Press]

Britain: Parliamentary Probe Exposes Lies on Iraqi Weapons

Thu, 03 Jul 2003 07:20:14 GMT

Part 1: Clair Short, Robin Cook and Andrew Gilligan

by Richard Tyler
03 Jul 03

The following is the first in a series of articles.

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee investigation into whether Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour government distorted intelligence material to justify its planned war against Iraq is to publish its verdict on July 8. There is every reason to suppose that the Labour-dominated committee in Parliament will make criticisms of the government that stop short of accusing it of lying—a classic fudge. But some of the testimony given to the inquiry makes this difficult. It stands as a damning indictment of the way the government set out to sell a previously determined decision to go to war by claiming that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. In order that this information does not remain buried amidst thousands of pages of undigested transcripts, the World Socialist Web Site is publishing a précis of the most important testimony given. [World Socialist Web Site]