Investigating the Iraq War... Officially

Lord Goldsmith got taxpayer help for Iraq war inquiry legal advice | UK news | The Guardian

This is from the 'Chilcot Panel, set up to investigate the legality of the Invasion of Iraq. As the article says...

"At one point, as he continued to question the advice of Foreign Office lawyers, Straw accused Wood of being "very dogmatic" by warning that an invasion would be unlawful, the inquiry heard. It was told that Downing Street was reluctant to hear arguments about whether an invasion would be legal. Wood described how he received what he called a "curious request" from Straw in October 2002 asking for his views on the consequences of acting without international legal authority in using force against Iraq. He responded by saying that it was "inconceivable that a government which has on numerous occasions made clear its intentions to comply with international law would order troops into a conflict without justification in international law". He also reminded Straw that under their official code of conduct, ministers had a duty to "comply with the law, including international law".

He said his warnings were sent to Downing Street. Worried officials there asked: "Why has this been put in writing?"

Straw will give evidence on the legality of the war in a second round of evidence from him on 8 February."

It seems to be turning out that the Iraq invasion, rather than being of 'dubious legality', as we have been told for so long, may actually be demonstrably illegal. The government lawyers consulted about it were actually, it seems unanimous on this point- that "without a specific UN resolution" it would be illegal. Now for many this is no news, but I hasten to add to them that their opinion is not only lacking in the legally binding power of a court, but also open to accusations of bias. The truth remains true (it is also my opinion, I might add, as it has consistently been throughout the whole affair), yet the legally enshrined powers will effect how much influence it has over decisions made.

What the inquiry is uncovering, which will probably not be the closed and toothless affair that the Labour Party wanted, is a consistent bullying from those higher up to rubber stamp an illegal invasion that wasn't just catastrophic- and I use the word advisedly, catastrophic, for the people in Iraq, but also for the reputation of the US and Britain in world affairs in general. The 'world's policemen' were seen to be bending the law in a way that suited them, even as it took place. Unprecedented demonstrations erupted as a result of this assumption of their own omnipotence. Now, tragically belatedly, but still welcome, courts are issuing verdicts that it was actually clearly illegal and as such people who lied about this will have to pay for their crimes. How far up the chain this will go is as yet unclear, though it should be remembered that Richard Nixon was impeached for far less severe offenses. Those with faith in the power of justice know that even if this particular enquiry falls short of the whole truth, others will pick up where they left off in due course. There is a word for what they got into that has stood the test of time... hubris.

Assuming it is established that it was an illegal war and that this is something they knew all along, the next question to answer- properly, not by the mob but by the jury- is why? Was it to increase the Western access to oil reserves, as is popularly believed, a classic neo-colonial war for resources much like Saddam's own invasion of Kuwait? Was it because they believed him to be a dangerous tyrant who's wings were not yet firmly clipped and that they would help the world by ridding it of him? Did they really believe that he might supply WMD's to terrorist groups to be used against Western cities (the most common reason given and one still being used for the controversial campaign or 'military adventure', depending on who you ask, in Afghanistan)? To my mind, the most plausible is the first answer- the invasion was clearly planned, both tactically and logistically well before the 'terrorist' attack of 9/11. The intention to take over the country, whether or not Saddam complied was established- if only by the moving of so many troops into position, at such great expense. It is almost inconceivable that they would be willing to go home 'empty handed'. It is also quite likely that the events of 9/11 were either permitted or even, (God forbid), staged so as to give some plausible reason for the whole invasion. Of course, all this is just my view, yet it seems to be increasingly widely accepted as more evidence emerges, most notably through inquiries such as these.

Yet it is also important to note just how badly Bush and Blair miscalculated. Their arguments failed to convince as many people or for that matter countries as they were hoping. Not only were tens of thousands of lives lost, but also their reputations. Resistance, both in the population and in the streets of Iraq was far fiercer than they anticipated and far less moderated. They succeeded in doing what many warned would happen- lionising Islamic Militancy and helping add fuel to it's fires throughout the Islamic world. They also weakened our on military deterrent by showing how our troops could be vulnerable to certain weaponry and how our strategies can be undermined by the power of the media itself to expose our hypocrisy. Rather than being lauded as heroes who understood the system enough to circumvent it, they are seen as tax avoiders who are yet to stand trial. This isn't just a 'liberal view'. It's one based around moral and legal facts, facts that are emerging ever more clearly into the limelight as I speak. I foresee a day when they really do stand trial, if for no other reason than the fact that whoever puts them on the stand will themselves be lauded as a hero and the media that supported them will have their own fresh story. Whether this is a good thing or not is another matter.

The main thing to remember is that they weren't just attacking Iraq. They were demonstrating an extreme contempt for the whole international order, including the democratic laws of their own countries. It is hard to say anything that hasn't yet been said. As a morality tale, it shows the bankruptcy of Machiavellian tactics, especially in a modern context in which information is freely available. The only hope they have is that they can demonstrate that they were sincerely pursuing 'good motives', so the judgment of history will be gentler than if it turns out to just be a search for personal profit.

Now for the most difficult question- one I have to admit I don't have a satisfactory answer for. What can we do about it all now? What would be a suitable way of finding 'closure', so that we can return to, or perhaps create in a purer way than ever before, a more honest and good government? Although many are baying for blood and crying 'war criminal' or 'traitor', I personally dislike the idea of punishments, which seem to me to be a crude way to deal with misdeeds- far better to teach by example and help others realise that lying is wrong than look for some dark satisfaction in vengeful suffering. Many say that they are responsible for immense suffering, yet I think it more the case that their miscalculations were responsible for said suffering. If it sounds like I am letting them off the hook, it's not the case. Their disregard for the law, their incompetence, is criminal. But I need to know that they really did have darker motives, darker than those publicly stated, before I can move down the path of wanting their punishment as such. We should be looking to establish ideals in government and remember important lessons learned. One is that international law is there to protect us all, if it slows the resolution of things down, than that is a necessary compromise and a path to goodness. Impatience itself demonstrates lack of compassion for those effected by it and is therefor a vice.

A civilised, nuanced approach is needed to these official investigations and thankfully, this seems to be the approach taken, even if it takes longer, it is so much more exhaustive. We should be wary of repeating the mistakes of the pair in seeking to resolve a problem faster than is possible to and thereby robbing ourselves of good results. Humiliating show trials (even if they were possible) could be a mistake, softer means need to be used to coax out the truth and hopefully- unlikely as it is- gain their repentance. I also am not sure if it is likely. Can the system really examine itself? I prefer a South African 'truth and reconciliation' approach, for being less divisive and serving the far more important goals of moving on.

If they had ruled as absolute dictators, it would be a different matter, we have to keep things in perspective if we are to make choices conductive to a better future. Justice needs to be tempered with compassion, for something good to come out of the whole, sordid affair. I am not alone in my view- it is being seen as one of the main weapons in the fight against Islamic militants, so why not use it with the neo-conservatives that paid and created them (a major problem of course is how to gauge when the repentance is genuine and when it is just 'buying time')? Maybe a compulsory spell in 'megalomaniacs anonymous', followed by international community service requiring them to go around lecturing on the importance of telling the truth and respecting human dignity. In a sense, they have already started to pay. Tony Blair lost his chance to be the President of the EU, which he would otherwise be a natural candidate for, and whilst he still gets paid millions to speak, George Bush Jr. more likely has to pay people to listen to him.

Now all these calls for moderation are what I think is best, but it has already been taking many years, with the whole world being forced to endure the most diabolical lies, just so this incompetent pair can mire us in ever-deepening quagmires of their own making. It is becoming hard for good, decent politicians such as Barak Obama to rule effectively, such is the confusion created as to right and wrong, left and right. The toxic mix of lies and military adventures have actually come close to wrecking our countries' economies, not just our reputations. Hundreds of thousands have died, millions have had their lives disrupted and even destroyed, all for 'freedom'? Really?

The only way to overcome this confusion of priorities is to put the culprits on trial- real, civilised trials, for jeopardising the greater good to their own agendas. Only then can we know for sure whether they really believed (falsely) that they were helping and then can repent for such costly, malpractice-like mistakes. Or, if as many suspect, pure greed for profit was the cause, the military-industrial complex up to it's old, dirty tricks, well then, if we can't get whichever dark actors are secretly responsible for the orders being followed, then at least we can criminalise those who go along with it and show that really, they would have been better off listening to the legal advice available to them in the first place. If such is the case, they can't claim now that they were never warned, nor can they escape censure for their attempts to 'shoot the messenger' for the news they brought.

Now for my temporary closure on this article, which turned out to be much longer than I envisioned and was not exactly easy to write. Let's remember that everything in this life is an opportunity for a learning experience. Whether it is politics, love, history, past-times, anything. Hence criticism, made in a spirit of love, is necessary, or else we can never move on. Mistakes can lead to evil- in fact they always lead to evil results, yet often their authors simply didn't foresee that, even if they should have. Intentional wrongdoing for personal gain, however, is closer to the definition of sin. Such actions are in their very nature unforgivable and the only way out of their karmic chains is repentance. The Iraq war and it's continuing counterpart, the invasion of Afghanistan, are certainly at the very least the former. In any case in which the latter is playing apart, it is absolutely imperative that we know, so that amends can be made, compensation paid, repentance started. Imperative, as we all live in a legal, faithful universe and however darkly buried, such thing simply must come to light if we are to be freed from the peril of their bad affects. Knowing, for sure, is the first step towards healing. It is my sincere wish that these inquiries do just that and unmask the truth, so we can be free from the confusion of half-truths and innuendos and, even worse, excuse-making, once and for all. We need to move on, we need closure. That will only be possible when all the facts are in the public eye, however embarrassing they may be to their actors. Living in Japan I can see the strain of a society essentially at war with itself about it's past, at least partly because it has yet to come clean about it. I want my own society to be spared the pain of this and I hope, as a democracy, we have the tools to do this and recover that most treasured virtue- clarity of mind.

May God have mercy on us all,

Amen.

Starfire

Terror is an Verb, not a Noun

What is becoming abundantly clear to all but the most obtuse observers is that the 'War on Terror' (WOT) is creating just as much fear and contains just as many compromised intentions as the terrorists themselves have. This isn't so much an issue of tactics on the ground, in which Western moral superiority may well exist (in the absence of reliable media, we will never know). It is more the chosen battlegrounds- is it really a case of confronting threats to our security, or are they in fact being made so tremendous as to be unmanageable? Is it in fact for us more a war over territory at the end of the day, rather than one over ideas?

Whilst militant groups claim to fight for their nation's sovereignty and freedom, they really want the power to impose their own religious ideals on a subject population.

Meanwhile, those fighting them militarily have confused it with other national objectives, such as energy needs and the balance of geopolitical power. From such a perspective, the 'WOT' is little more than a smokescreen for other objectives and the maintenance of a costly military machine that provides employment to millions. In fact, power in it's various forms seems to be overriding concern, one which is only loosely connected with actual security.

For all this, great changes may well come about through and with these conflicts. This is not in any way to justify them, just a reminder that the cloud of destruction may well have a silver lining. As people awaken to the horror of of war, if becomes increasingly hard to contemplate. Whilst many suffer in these localised conflicts, a mature and effective pro-peace movement may well stave even more costly ones off.

Unravelling the Web of Deceit

If you look into the core of a religion, they often agree on basic things, but their perspective on them differs, just as a diamond can be seen from many angles, all of them gleaming perhaps, but each sided distinctly unique. One thing they tend to agree on though, is that the most basic 'sin' or mistake is to go away from the path of truth. In Judaism and Christianity, Satan is the great sinner, in that he defies God's will and plans for him as an angel. Not satisfied to serve, he seeks to be an equal to God, (an impossibility, but his ambition knows no bounds, the capital 'He' here being reserved for God and the lowercase one for the fallen angel!). He presents himself as such to others and gets followers thereby to mistakenly worship him. As Milton put it, like any Earthly tyrant, he feels that-

"To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."--
Paradise Lost, Book 1, line 262. Satan speaking of his new domain.

In the Urantia Book, in which his rebellion is seen at heart to be a philosophical one that was carried out through great debates in heaven rather than a physical conflict, he is even depicted as going so far as to deny the very reality of the Universal system of spiritual evolution, whereby beings evolve to higher levels by serving others, as he himself had had to do for millenia. Rather, he teaches his followers that they can have absolutely anything they want, simply by taking it for themselves as they will, without the need to earn it. He goes on to rebel against God by telling lies about His nature, trying to convince both angels and mortals in his domain that the commandments of God are oppressive, when in reality they are loving and protective, guarding our freedom rather than limiting it.

The prime example of this in the Hebrew Bible is when he disguises himself as a serpent and encourages Eve to eat of the 'Fruit of the Tree of Life, that God said not to eat of', encouraging disobedience, rebellion, mistrust and an action that actually leads to misery and suffering rather than the promised God-like powers. The violence and misery that is caused by following the misguiding temptations of Satan are a result of his lies and deceit. So here we have the western traditional definition of evil.

In the East untruth, or more to the point, lowers levels of truth, are also seen as the great 'evil', though it is less often couched in such moralistic terms. Maya, the illusion surrounding creation, forms a dream-like environment in which we are used to living, and through the process of rebirth being the universe in which our trapped souls continuously transmigrate even beyond this present life. The problem here is the limitations of the material sphere in which we believe ourselves to be trapped, limitations which are contrary to our eternal, divine, essentially God-like and spiritual nature. It is a problem of perception which leads us to be trapped like this. If we meditate and seek to see clearly, enlightenment will overtake our usual consciousness with the great oceans of super-consciousness and we will be free- achieving Moksha or 'liberation', entering the Nirvana of the enlightened.

So, whilst in the Western tradition the problem is a mythical, existential corruption caused by a being with shall we say an immensely bad character, plunging worlds such as our own into a highly dualistic struggle between the forces of 'light and darkness', in the East the problem is an inner one, a psychological one. Of course, the mystical systems of the West also have this concern for an inner rather than an outer struggle, to understand our own minds. But it is safe to say that they were periphery to the great strand of Western thinking, that has led to Western science, technology and expansionism by focusing on the world around us to such a great degree. A struggle for truth and progress in the outer world to compliment (not actually to conflict with) the struggle for truth in the Eastern tradition. Humanity working together on the two poles, the two sides of our collective brain.

Whilst complimentary, this does lead to differing approaches to how to deal with the evil things in the world around us. In the Western tradition, they should be 'taken on'- the corruption had it's origin in some form of 'evil' and should be fought, with a view to ending it's deceptive influence and hopefully entirely eliminated. In the Eastern, perhaps more 'feminine' approach, it is part and parcel of the world around us, the deceptive veil of the 'real' that covers the 'Real'. Waking, ordinary consciousness is in itself transitory, illusionary and must be seen through- such bad things as appear in it will never be entirely eliminated but can be overcome by a great and spiritual inner effort, with help from God, gods, and Buddhas. To be involved in an external struggle is to squirm around in the quicksand- it may at times be necessary, but the greater battle is one to regain our full spectrum of super-consciousness and achieve enlightenment. To return from the guise of our fleeting, struggling self, to our great and eternal, unconditioned Self, beyond conventional attributes, living eternal life in the Eternity.

Yet even in the Eastern tradition there is a mythological being who is responsible for spinning this web of Maya, for keeping us in the bondage of the ever-revolving wheel of transmigrating life- Mara, who the Buddha himself overcame in that great moment beneath the Bodhi tree by seeing through the deception that the ephemeral is the real, when in fact there is a greater reality behind it.

So in each tradition, Mara and Satan are not essentially at fault due to crimes, violence, or other active wrong doing. They have a wrong perception of what is real and follow this mistake into titanic degrees of misunderstanding as to what life is really about. They 'believe their own lies', or at least seem to. The way to be sure to life free from their grasp is to follow the Truth, be it God's will for us or our currently hidden true nature. The truth is the light, which shines eternally, even on the darkness of ignorance. As Jesus said of his persecutors 'forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do'- evil comes from ignorance, sin from wilful continuance of an ignorant and wrong course of action. The remedy, now as ever, is a repentant return to the truth of the light, the loving truth of God's law, or seen from the Eastern perspective, Enlightenment. Western people may feel it best to confront an evil and thereby destroy it, 'cleansing the world' of it, just as St George slew the mythical dragon, yet they should take care lest they be duped into seeking to destroy that which is actually innocent and blameless. Easterners by contrast are apt to take a more passive view of external evils and merely view them as something to intelligently avoid- an approach which to some extent may gain them peace of mind and an outwardly harmonious existence. Yet, for their part, they should know when time and neccessity has come to stand up to oppression and corruption, lest it grows too great to control. It may be significant that the democracies and human-rights respecting regimes in Asia were put into place with a lot of help from the Western powers. External reality may well be the clothes of a greater dimension, but it is nevertheless very much a real thing, which we have the power to change for the better, and at times a duty to do so, if we are to remain happy and free.

Perhaps the dilemma of how to deal with external evils was put no better than by Shakespeare's Hamlet-

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? ."
Hamlet, 3. 1


Yet he also, more cosmically, says-
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy".
Hamlet, 1. 5

A Confession on Behalf of a Wayward Friend

Recieving that letter couldn't but help remind me of a scam that I actually, foolishly fell for. Here is a confession of how I was decieved, with a plea for the repentance and thus forgiveness of the misguided deciever-

A previously very trustworthy friend of mine, with whom I have had very good times and gone on several trips around Japan, called B******, got sucked into a Forex company operating in Tokyo called 'Toyo' , which he had been convinced, and then proceeded to convince me and another friend, was totally above board. He promised us a taste of the 'trillions of dollars' that are being traded world-wide through forex and that experienced experts in his company would limit the risk to 25% and produce massive profits, the like of which we had only dreamed of. It turned He emphasised that, being inexperienced, he was only a salesman and that it was a long-established company, which had deeply knowlegable staff that would do the Forex trading.

Yuko warned me that such companies are 'fly by night' entities and I made the tragic mistake of believing my friend over her, not knowing that he had been thoroughly brainwashed. What actually happened is that they let him do it, with next to no guidance, and he promptly lost a large sum of money of ours in just a couple of months and then suggested that I put more funds into the account and give him a chance to try again!

I was furious for weeks yet it is emotionally hard to press charges at a friend, even though I knew full well that he had been lying, be it under duress from the notorious fraudsters he worked for. So, in what was for me and hopefully him a dramatic resolution of the problem I forgave him for the lying, wanting him to make up for it through the good nature of his repentant heart rather than through legal duress- images of him languishing in a Japanese jail cell werer touubling to behold- if it would actually ever come to that, which I somehow doubt. (He since admitted that it was wrong to decieve us about what was gong on and says he is working on earning back the money he took through other investments, though this was about two years ago and I haven't seen a penny since!).

A Letter From Africa

I had a very interesting and animated conversation with my girlfriend recently, over an issue that concerns all of us, but invites different responses from different people. It was all based around this mail I received through the pbase message system, from someone purporting to come from the Ivory Coast-


kudi_sulemancc@yahoo.com

I am Kudi,writing from Ivory Coast,I was moved by your profile and i decided to contact you for assistance as your profiled as proofed who you are and your capabilities too.

There is this ($12,500,000.00 United States Dollars) which my late father kept in Utility Delivery And Sleaning Company in Ivory Coast as containing family valuables before he was assassinated by unknown persons from the rebels after the new political crisis in my country in 2001.

Right now,i am not able to clear this box from the company because of my tender age and can not secure this money here because of the political crisis in this country,now i wish to relocate to your country where the box of money will be shipped to and we meet after the box has been transfered to your country for investment.

I want you to help me claim and retrive the box from the security company with the documents I have here with me and transfer it into your country for my future life purposes and on profitable investment.

According to the Security Company on my last discussion with the manager Mr Clark Richard,they are some little taxes which must be cleared up before the release of the box also,and this is the reason I cried unto you for Godly help to get this money out of the Company.

I will be attaching the Certificate of deposit,my photo and Course of signing the documents with the security company as soon as you indicate your interest in this transaction.

I will be waiting patienly for your email and hope to get maximum coperation from you.
Goodbye,
Miss Kudi Suleman.

Of course, this is none other than the infamous '419' scam, which claimed to be about a Nigerian, in another guise, which the unwary might think is the real thing. Note not only the spelling mistakes, but their careful positioning in the letter and the appeals to your charitable nature. What all these scams do is try to gain your trust and appeal to your natural greed, all in one. They say that there is some money, usually an improbably vast sum, that cannot be released for legal reasons. As they goad you along, they come to the point where they ask you to make a 'small paymeny'- which can actually run into tens of thousands of dollars, in some cases, to pay off the neccessary txes so thast the 'safety deposit box' or whatever can be opened, and the funds recieved. What's in it for you? Nothing! But they will try and convince you that you will end up a millionaire. On top of this, they do so by disguising themselves as a semi-literate but deeply religious African who simply couldn't be lying!

I suppose I could have played games with the guy, as this smartie-pants did, but I learned in the past that my intelligence is not in the realm on concocting and unravelling deceit and also, who knows what the guy would do with any email address or other details that he got hold of. Even giving my bank account number could be enough for him to somehow fake my signature and withdraw from it (my credit card was faked and a large purchase made last year, which thankfully was covered by the insurance). You just never know.

Now this kind of deceit is a world-wide problem, which deceit in itself may always have been. Whilst there is something amusing about it when unmasked, it can also be quite a serious one- people can lose their entire life-savings to such fraudsters with their 'pishing scams', which seem to be increasing in their sophistication as time goes on. Fraud does seem to be a part of the world we live in- some would say it is even practiced by governments, who claim one thing and do another. WMDs in Iraq, anyone? Some lucrative contracts for Halliburton, perhaps?

It seems to be an especially big problem in Japan, despite generally being a very honest country- leading some to conclude that the entire financial world here is riddled with corruption and that if such crime continues, the nation may be on the verge of bankrupcy (well, for reasons other than the fraud, perhaps, but the corrupters certainly aren't helping!). It recently lead to charges being leveled at Houri Mon, a kind of idol for young Japanese investors, who were dazzled by his seeming ability to perform financial miracles in a market controlled by the 'big old boys', only to see the whole thing take a sudden dip when charges of fraud were levelled at him. Despite her high level of intelligence and financial knowledge, even my own girlfriend was duped by the situation. What is it about deceit, and why do we fall for it?