British general urges Tony Blair impeachement

[ALM]

If he has a blue beret and he is retired, then just what credibility does he have? what is his agenda exactly? I am quite happy to accept the validity of his argument, I am not necessarily happy to accept him as a credible person to make the claim just because he is a general.

Tbh I dont think he has an 'agenda'. What exactly are you suggesting? On Saddam's payroll? Al-Qaida perhaps? A Bin Laden fan? I think it's nothing more than the fact that he's an ex-military man who can see the Iraq War for what it is. They way in wich Blair misled and at times simply lied to parliament on the run-up to war, in his opinion, was a criminal act. I agree with him ... whatever the colour of his beret.

[Jabberwocky]

I agree, TB is a war criminal and should be tried in the Hague. International law demands he be put before a firing squad along with Bush. The war was illegal as has been proven on numerous occasions with overwhelming evidence.

[stackpole]

Tbh I dont think he has an 'agenda'. What exactly are you suggesting? On Saddam's payroll? Al-Qaida perhaps? A Bin Laden fan? I think it's nothing more than the fact that he's an ex-military man who can see the Iraq War for what it is. They way in wich Blair misled and at times simply lied to parliament on the run-up to war, in his opinion, was a criminal act. I agree with him ... whatever the colour of his beret.

The people nearest to the truth are the weapons inspectors. They know what the evidence was. If I recall correctly, they said they couldn't find anything.

[Gibbon]

I am not sure that a UN general with a light blue beret on his head is the right person to be taken seriously.

Fecking half wit. He's a british general and believe me, they're all these days highly educated and very up on current affairs. He knows what a brutal, dehumanising process modern warfare is and for a Prime Minister to go to war on flimsy evidence and no direct threat to this country is a criminal waste of the young lives sacrificed.

I've never really liked TB and his polished smugness but I got taken in as I thought he must know something which for security reasons he can't say. He also for the first time went against some very strong public opinion.

Turns out he knew nothing and the only fellow who did was hounded to suicide.

[DodgyAgent]

Fecking half wit. He's a british general and believe me, they're all these days highly educated and very up on current affairs. He knows what a brutal, dehumanising process modern warfare is and for a Prime Minister to go to war on flimsy evidence and no direct threat to this country is a criminal waste of the young lives sacrificed.

I've never really liked TB and his polished smugness but I got taken in as I thought he must know something which for security reasons he can't say. He also for the first time went against some very strong public opinion.

Turns out he knew nothing and the only fellow who did was hounded to suicide.

He is also a UN General, part of an organisation that was humiliated by the cowardly way that its soldiers stood idly by and ignored the atrocities of srebenicia. Maybe, just maybe he is a UN apologist. I am not saying he is, nor do necessarily disagree with what he is saying, I am just deeply suspicious of someone who was very much part of (supposedly) the British establishment suggesting that his PM should be impeached. Has a got a book in the offing for example?

[Gibbon]

He is also a UN General, part of an organisation that was humiliated by the cowardly way that its soldiers stood idly by and ignored the atrocities of srebenicia.

No he was always a british general seconded to the UN. The trouble was the mandate (orders) the UN gave the troops. They were only peace keeping not peace enforcing. As a soldier you are given a card with specific orders about when and where you can open fire. You are made to carry this card so you can't plead ignorance. If the card says you can't open fire, you can't open fire without being court martialled and possibly on trumped up war criminal charges.

Look at the Lee Clegg case. All the rounds fired at the car as it sped towards him were legal, the ones fired as it went past illegal. FFS.

[AtW]

Maybe, just maybe he is a UN apologist.

He is a soldier - he serves where he was ordered, if it happens UN then its UN.

[DodgyAgent]

Bosnia

He is a soldier - he serves where he was ordered, if it happens UN then its UN.

I have always held up the Bosnian war as a benchmark for judging how appropriate the criticism of the war in Iraq actually is. Are the Americans just attacking muslims? No is the answer, they protected them in the Balkans.
Are they in it for the Oil? Yes, maybe. Are the UN truly useless? yes, just look at what happened at Srebrenicia- a bunch of cowardly jobsworths if ever there was one. Were we right to intervene in the Balkans? of course we were.

These are all conclusions that I had reached. However whilst searching for a few snippets on Google about the general (who himself has innocent blood on his hands), I came accross this article giving the serb point of view with regards to in particular Srebrenicia:

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/jatras3.html

In other words, maybe some of the opinions that I had gleaned from the press were a little presumptuous.

DA in "maybe I am not always right" mode

[AtW]

I have always held up the Bosnian war as a benchmark for judging how appropriate the criticism of the war in Iraq actually is. Are the Americans just attacking muslims? No is the answer, they protected them in the Balkans.

The USA was extremely reluctant to take part in this war - they considered it Europe's problem and I remember vividly that it took big deal of work from Europe and non-Republican US president to actually agree to it - and notice how fast US forces left. Now why is that different in Iraq?

The real problem Dodgy is with your communist mindset - you act just like scumbag communists that I observed at the time of living in USSR.

[Fungus]

The USA was extremely reluctant to take part in this war - they considered it Europe's problem and I remember vividly that it took big deal of work from Europe and non-Republican US president to actually agree to it - and notice how fast US forces left. Now why is that different in Iraq?

The real problem Dodgy is with your communist mindset - you act just like scumbag communists that I observed at the time of living in USSR.

I heard that Clinton was bounced into acting by Blair announcing to the world that they were going to do something. Apparently Clinton was furious. I agree with what they did and is an example of going to war for a just cause IMO. Though I loathe Blair, I do think that on this occasion what he did was admirable.

There is no doubt that a large part of the reason for the Iraq war was to ensure stability of the Middle East due to its strategic importance.

Unfortunately Blair is Teflen coated and by having numerous enquiries with anrrow remits, he has avoided a proper investigation.

Fungus