woensdag, februari 17, 2010
Dutch PM survives motion of no confidence
an Peter Balkenende has enough support in parliament to stay in office, but his problems are far from over.For the first time in Dutch parliamentary history on Tuesday, a prime minister was confronted with a motion of no confidence that targeted him personally. Opposition members of parliament accused Jan Peter Balkenende of undermining public trust in the government.
The Christian democratic prime minister survived the motion though, as a majority of the lower house still supports him: the motion was rejected 96 to 40.
Tuesday's parliamentary debate over the findings of a special committee that investigated the reasoning behind the Dutch support for the US led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was special for another reason. The meeting closed the book on the issue after seven years, sixteen debates and ten motions that asked for an inquiry into the Dutch involvement and the Davids report that resulted from it.
Read more >> | NRC- Handelsblad International
Labels: Afghanistan, Dutch politics, Foreign Policy, Irak onderzoek, Iraq
- posted by DD @ 11:09 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
woensdag, februari 10, 2010
Iraq and the fig-leaf of just war theory
Discussing the Chilcot Inquiry into the invasion and occupation of Iraq on BBC Radio 5 on 20 January this year, John Rentoul, quoting Nick Cohen, challenged ‘the anti-war mob’, and more specifically Philippe Sands, to tell him how any war could be ‘illegal’. Cohen, like Rentoul, is an apologist for the Iraq War, petulant about critics who insist it was illegal. His petulance, elaborated in the article quoted below, is rooted in his (entirely correct) insistence that the murderous Sadaam Hussein regime was itself acting in ways which were plainly illegal. But my concern isn’t with whether two wrongs make a right. Rather it’s with Cohen’s ‘simple question’:I am growing old and grey waiting for John Humphrys or Jon Snow to show a spark of journalistic life and ask Nick Clegg, Philippe Sands and all the rest of them the simple question: "What do you mean by an 'illegal war'?"
Read more >> | openDemocracy
Labels: Irak onderzoek, Iraq, Iraq Inquiry Chilcot, Just War, United Kingdom
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dinsdag, februari 09, 2010
Cabinet admits Iraq war mistakes
he cabinet has admitted MPs could have been better informed about security service 'doubts and conjectures' about Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the 2003 invasion.And, in their formal response to last month's highly critical Davids commission report, ministers say they should have been more open about the US request for assistance prior to the war.
The Netherlands supported the invasion politically on the grounds that Saddam Hussein was breaking UN resolutions but did not send troops.
Read more >> | DutchNews.nl - Cabinet admits Iraq war mistakes
Labels: Dutch politics, Foreign Policy, Irak crisis, Iraq
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donderdag, januari 21, 2010
Jack Straw appearance at Chilcot Inquiry blows open Iraq war divisions
he stark divisions at the heart of government on the eve of the Iraq war were blown open again today when Jack Straw hinted that he considered his position in the build-up to the conflict.The Justice Secretary, who was Foreign Secretary at the time of the invasion, handed a 25-page memo to the official Iraq Inquiry before he gave evidence this afternoon, which stated that he believed he had a "profoundly difficult" moral dilemma when he was asked whether to support the war.
“The moral as well as the political dilemma were profoundly difficult," he wrote. "I was also fully aware that my support for military action was critical.
Read more >> | The Times Online
See also >> | The Jack Straw Memorandum (pdf)
See also >> | Chris Ames - The Guardian
See also >> | I could have vetoed UK military action in Iraq, Jack Straw tells inquiry - The Guardian
See also >> | Jack Straw at the Iraq war inquiry - The Guardian
See also >> | Jack Straw says 45-minute Iraq claim has 'haunted us'
See also >> | The Iraq Inquiry Timetable
Labels: Irak onderzoek, Iraq, Iraq Inquiry Chilcot, United Kingdom
- posted by DD @ 6:27 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
dinsdag, januari 19, 2010
Iraq inquiry: Hoon says UK war backing not inevitable
ritish involvement in the invasion of Iraq was not decided until it was approved by MPs, Geoff Hoon has said.The ex-defence secretary said the UK always hoped diplomatic efforts on Iraq would be successful and had never given "unconditional" support for war.
It would have been "inappropriate" for the cabinet to discuss the legal advice it received on the war, he said.
Letters show that the attorney general warned Mr Hoon in April 2002 about the legality of military action.
Read more >> | BBC News
Labels: Irak crisis, Iraq, Iraq Inquiry Chilcot, United Kingdom
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Goldsmith was not convinced war was legal even after UN resolution – Chilcot
hairman of Iraq inquiry also suggests then-attorney general was discouraged from expressing his doubts about war in writingLord Goldsmith was not convinced that war in Iraq would be legal even after the UN security council passed resolution 1441 in November 2002, Sir John Chilcot said today.
Basing his remarks on papers he has read but which have not been made public, the chairman of the Iraq inquiry said that the then-attorney general, "immediately after 1441 had been secured, said he would need some time to reflect on it. And it appears from what we read that he did not feel convinced at that time – I'm talking about post-November, before March – that standing on its own it would be a secure base."
Chilcot also suggested that Goldsmith had been discouraged from expressing his doubts about the war in writing.
Read more >> | The Guardian
See also >> | The Times: Lord Goldsmith warned Tony Blair over legality of the Iraq war
See also >> | Iraq Inquiry Digest
See also >> | Telegraph: Iraq Inquiry: Lord Goldsmith 'materially' changed legal advice in days before war
Labels: Irak crisis, Irak onderzoek, Iraq, Iraq Inquiry Chilcot
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zondag, januari 17, 2010
Straw privately warned Blair that Iraq invasion was legally dubious
etter to PM from foreign secretary challenged gravity of threat from Saddam in lead-up to pivotal meeting with BushJack Straw privately warned Tony Blair that an invasion of Iraq was legally dubious, questioned what such action would achieve, and challenged US claims about the threat from Saddam Hussein, it was revealed today
Read more >> | The Guardian
Labels: Foreign Policy, Irak crisis, Irak onderzoek, Iraq, United Kingdom, United Nations
- posted by DD @ 11:43 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
vrijdag, januari 15, 2010
Prime minister disgraced, governing coalition strained
he Labour party (PvdA) emerged victorious from political scuffles surrounding the Iraq inquiry report. But it may yet pay a price.Deputy prime minister Wouter Bos was finally allowed to address parliament an hour after midnight during the debate Wednesday night. Until then, the leader of Dutch Labour party PvdA had sat silently beside prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, his head bowed modestly, constantly fidgeting with his Blackberry. The body language of the leaders of the two largest governing parties revealed a fissure between them that words did not express.
Bos’ Labour party, PvdA, was trying hard not to wallow too much in its victory, striving to remain cool and collected, and not aggravate the prime minister’s Christian democrat CDA party any further.
Read more >> | nrc.nl - International - Background - Prime minister disgraced, governing coalition strained
Labels: Dutch politics, Foreign Policy, Irak onderzoek, Iraq
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donderdag, januari 14, 2010
International law took back seat to politics
nternational law was sacrificed to political interests. Don't pretend otherwise.Anyone who believed international law had an influence on issues of war and peace is an illusion poorer after the report of the Davids commission on the Dutch support for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In 2002, international law carried no weight in the Dutch political capital, The Hague, we discovered yesterday. Legal arguments were subordinated to political interests. According to the commission, there was no adequate legal mandate for the military operation. The legal argument that was employed by the Netherlands “could not be defended”. And there was also no thorough or real legal preparation. At the ministry of Foreign Affairs, moreover, officials were radically divided on the matter, an “extremely unfortunate” state of affairs.
Read more >> | nrc.nl - International - Opinion - International law took back seat to politics
Labels: Dutch politics, Foreign Policy, Irak crisis, Irak onderzoek, Iraq, United Nations
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Iraq report: PM now accepts criticism
rime minister Jan Peter Balkenende has written to parliament to say the cabinet now accepts that 'a more adequate legal mandate' was necessary for the US and Britain to invade Iraq.The statement comes just one day after the prime minister responded to a highly critical report on the Dutch involvement in Iraq by saying the legalities of the war were 'a difference of opinion'.
Read more >> | DutchNews.nl - Iraq report: PM now accepts criticism
Labels: Dutch politics, Irak onderzoek, Iraq
- posted by DD @ 10:20 AM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
woensdag, januari 13, 2010
Report answers questions on Iraq
id the British trick the Dutch after the invasion? Questions answered about the Iraq-report.Willibrord Davids was the chairman of the special committee of inquiry charged with the investigation of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He is also a master of understatement. When he presented his report to prime-minister Jan Peter Balkenende on Tuesday, he dryly pointed out that the “sturdy tome” he bore had only one thing in common with a liber amicorum or festschrift, a gift commonly presented to friends in academic circles singing praises of its recepient: the element of surprise.
The report answers several questions that have burned on many a politician’s lips for years. Below, four of the foremost.
Read more >> | nrc.nl - International - Features - Report answers questions on Iraq
Labels: Dutch politics, Foreign Policy, Irak onderzoek, Iraq, United Nations
- posted by DD @ 6:40 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
After Iraq study, crisis brewing for Dutch government
he Dutch governing coalition has become divided after a study lambasted the handling of the run-up to the Iraq war on Tuesday.The brewing crisis was set off by the presentation of a report by a special committee of inquiry chaired by the retired supreme court judge Willibrord Davids. The committee had been charged with investigating the decision-making process surrounding the run-up to the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq, which the Dutch supported politically, but not militarily.
Read more >> | nrc.nl - International - After Iraq study, crisis brewing for Dutch government
Labels: Dutch politics, Irak onderzoek, Iraq, United Nations
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Iraq report: emergency debate this afternoon
utch MPs will this afternoon hold an emergency debate on yesterday's hard hitting report on the Netherlands' role in the Iraq conflict in 2003.And there are growing reports of a serious rift between the Christian Democrat prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Labour MPs over the government's initial response to the report.
A motion by the Liberal democratic party D66 was given unanimous support by MPs. Balkenende and deputy prime minister and Labour leader Wouter Bos have also been summoned to attend.
Read more >> | DutchNews.nl - Iraq report: emergency debate this afternoon
Labels: Dutch politics, Irak onderzoek, Iraq, United Nations
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dinsdag, januari 12, 2010
Iraq war was illegal, Dutch panel rules
nquiry says conflict had no sound mandate in international law as it emerges UK denied key letter to seven-judge tribunalThe war in Iraq had "no basis in international law", a Dutch inquiry found today, in the first ever independent legal assessment of the decision to invade.
In a series of damning findings, a seven-member panel in the Netherlands concluded that the war, which was supported by the Dutch government following intelligence from Britain and the US, had not been justified in law.
Read more >> | The Guardian
Labels: Dutch politics, Foreign Policy, Irak onderzoek, Iraq, United Kingdom, United Nations
- posted by DD @ 8:23 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
Prime minister disagrees with Iraq report
rime minister Jan Peter Balkenende does not agree with a number of the conclusions of the Davids' commission report which heavily criticised the way the government came to support the invasion of Iraq in 2003.The prime minister told a news conference late on Tuesday afternoon that parliament was fully informed about the Americans' request for help in preparing the invasion. The report said MPs had not been kept in touch with all developments.
Read more >> | DutchNews.nl - Prime minister disagrees with Iraq report
Labels: Dutch politics, Foreign Policy, Irak onderzoek, Iraq, United Nations
- posted by DD @ 8:21 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
Toelichting van Prof. mr Nico Schrijver
ommissielid en hoogleraar Volkenrecht Prof.mr Nico Schrijver geeft een toelichting voor nrc.tv en vindt dat het besluitvormingsproces geen "schoonheidsprijs" verdient.Labels: Dutch politics, Irak onderzoek, Iraq, United Nations
- posted by DD @ 5:38 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
Alastair Campbell defends 'every word' of Iraq dossier
ony Blair's ex-spokesman Alastair Campbell has said he "defends every single word" of the 2002 dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.Mr Campbell told the UK's Iraq war inquiry the dossier could have been "clearer" but did not "misrepresent" the threat from Saddam's weapons.
Read more >> | BBC News
Labels: Irak onderzoek, Iraq, United Kingdom, United States
- posted by DD @ 3:36 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
Dutch government misrepresented case for Iraq war
he Dutch government was less than truthful in presenting its case for the invasion of Iraq to parliament, a report released on Tuesday noted.A special committee of inquiry established by prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende has come to these conclusions after conducting an investigation into the run-up to the invasion that took several months. The committee, chaired by retired Dutch supreme court judge Willibrord Davids, found no evidence supporting the oft-reported rumour that the Dutch offered clandestine military support in the invasion.
Read more >> | nrc.nl - International - Dutch government misrepresented case for Iraq war
See also >> | Conclusions and summay in English
Labels: Dutch politics, Foreign Policy, Irak onderzoek, Iraq, United Nations, United States
- posted by DD @ 2:19 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
Government slammed over Iraq war support
nited Nations resolutions on Saddam Hussein's weapons programme were not a sufficient mandate to justify the invasion of Iraq by the US and Britain, a Dutch government committee said on Tuesday.The committee was set up last year to investigate the Dutch position, following mounting pressure from MPs and the press. The Netherlands gave political but not military support to the 2003 invasion, a decision largely based on claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Those claims later turned out to be false.
The report contains a long list of criticisms of the government of the day - a coalition between the Christian Democrats and free market Liberals VVD.
Read more >> | DutchNews.nl - Government slammed over Iraq war support
See also >> | Conclusions and summay in English
Labels: Dutch politics, Foreign Policy, Iraq, United Nations, United States
- posted by DD @ 1:14 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
maandag, juni 15, 2009
Cameron: Iraq inquiry looks 'fixed'
ritish Prime Minister Brown announced today an inquiry into the start and conduct of the Iraq war. It is met with scepticism in parliament.Labels: Iraq, United Kingdom
- posted by DD @ 6:23 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
zaterdag, juni 28, 2008
Iraq security handover delayed
he handover of al Anbar province from the US troops to Iraqi forces has been delayed due to a sand storm and a suicide bomber attack that killed 20 people.Labels: Iraq, United States
- posted by DD @ 11:51 AM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
maandag, juli 09, 2007
Pakistan, the next nightmare
Pakistan is in crisis according to Brooking Institution professor Stephen Cohen. It even is a time bomb, according to Cohen in the Washington Post recently. Not only Pakistan, but together with Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan this corner of the world, loaded with nukes (Iran, Pakistan, India) is the most explosive. It is comparable with the situation in the beginning of the 20th century Balkans in Europe.
Sectarian terrorist and Taliban violence is destabilizing the region turning it to a potential time bomb. US leadership should revise its policy toward Pakistan. Not solely leaning on the military dictatorship, but pushing moderate civic society, according to Cohen, also on C- Span.
See Washington Journal C- Span.
Labels: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan
- posted by DD @ 12:00 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
zaterdag, juli 07, 2007
Bobby Gosh: US effort in Iraq in vain
Aparisim "Bobby" Ghosh, Time Magazine, Baghdad Bureau talks about the military and political situation in Iraq in C-Spans Washington Journal. He is one of the few journalists who reports from Baghdad itself.
In more than half an hour Q&A all aspects of the present political delicate situation comes around. Mister Gosh is very pessimistic about the present development in Iraq.
View the entire program on C-Span, click here.
Labels: Iraq, United States
- posted by DD @ 11:18 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
vrijdag, juli 06, 2007
Boekestijn over Afghanistan in Who's Next
NRC Handelsblad verslaggever Robert van de Roer praat met Tweede Kamerlid Arend Jan Boekestijn (VVD) over NRC Next, Afghanistan, martelingen en Joshua Livestro. Bovendien biedt Boekestijn zijn excuses aan voor de invasie in Irak.
Labels: Afghanistan, Iraq, NRC Next, VVD
- posted by DD @ 10:07 PM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
donderdag, juni 28, 2007
Cut US Army in two
Strategic planner Thomas P.M. Barnett has advised US leaders on national security since the end of the Cold War. In this bracingly honest -- and very funny -- talk, Barnett outlines a solution for the foundering US military: Break it in two. One half makes war, and the other half builds the peace that follows.
Labels: Afghanistan, Iraq, Politiek, TED Talk, Terrorisme, United States
- posted by DD @ 11:07 AM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
woensdag, juni 27, 2007
Colin Powell Saying He Was Misled Before UN Speech on WMDs
Labels: Iraq
- posted by DD @ 10:56 AM Perma Link/Print (0) comments
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