What happens when four knights of the realm and a baroness hold inquiries on British involvement in the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq?
One BBC critic likened the atmosphere to a village cricket match, and others have offered unfavorable comparisons with the cut and thrust of war hearings on Capitol Hill.
In that sense, the inquiry has been faithful to Mr. Brown’s stipulation that it not “apportion blame.” That approach cut little ice with antiwar protesters who appeared outside the hearing in its early days wearing scowling face masks in the likenesses of Mr. Blair, Mr. Brown and Mr. Bush, and clutching handfuls of fake dollar bills soaked in fake blood.
But there have been no disruptions inside the hearings, and even some light-hearted moments. Some have flowed from overhead monitors offering a running transcript of the hearings, and what they have betrayed of the stenographers’ struggles with unfamiliar military terms or Arab names. One controversial figure in Iraqi politics, Ahmed Chalabi, appeared on the monitors as “Alcohol Chalabi,” to subdued merriment.
Tags: dubya, England, George W. Bush, Iraq, Iraq War Inquiry, Tony Blair
[...] Not to make light of the war in Iraq, but … really, stenographers … [...]