Why UK Labour lost? Part 1: historical context
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
iraq
Qasem Soleimani murdered by the United States.
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
Australia’s war
Surprising no one: “A newly declassified report obtained by Fairfax Media reveals Australia’s role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq was undertaken solely to enhance our alliance with the US.”
Special Relationship 2
The Bush Blair “special relationship” was a geopolitical disaster of epic proportions. Get ready for Round 2, Trump May.
ISIS Crisis
Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says our training mission to Iraq is undergoing a transformation. We were warned when the troops first went that the mission was always intended to be looser than Brownlee publicly claimed at the time. And so it has turned out to be.
Chilcot report – Blair’s bad week
Even before its release the Chilcot report is drawing attention to the hubristic warmongering that will forever stain Blair’s time in office.
Chilcot, Corbyn and the UK Labour Party caucus.
Three dots.
Updated
Mission Creep
The military mission to Iraq is to be extended by another 18 months, much to nobody’s surprise. John Key has put the creep into the mission.
What Possibility a Mid Winter Celebration?
According to the Herald on Sunday, some people aren’t just sitting back waiting for the Chilcot report to be released before deciding what to do. Some people are getting geared up.
Little just visited NZ troops in Iraq
“Opposition Leader Andrew Little has visited New Zealand troops at Camp Taji, Iraq. Mr Little also met with Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled Al-Obedih and senior military officials from the Coalition forces in Iraq. He now heads to Jordan to see the unfolding refugee crisis first hand.”
Collision course Syria
Russia is backing anti-Islamist Kurds in Northern Syria to control their own territory, and acting directly against the interests of the jihadist groups that Turkey, a NATO member, is supporting. The temperature will only rise from here.
Ground troops to Iraq – PM please explain
PM please explain, what the hell good would sending a few Kiwi ground troops to the ongoing disaster of the Middle East achieve? Is it the whole cost of being in the club thing again?
Just another coverup
The Nats changing lines on the Taji report look like just another routine coverup of just another routine lie. At least, I hope so, because not knowing / caring about the report would be worse.
The Taji report
An American report which came out shortly before Key’s visit to our troops at Taji camp in Iraq is strongly critical of conditions there, and of the efficacy of the training process. Key claims he didn’t know, yet another of his outbreaks of “convenient ignorance”.
A double standard for Saudi Arabia
If Saudi Arabia’s justice system and human rights record is as bad as Amnesty says it is, then this is not a country that we should be seeking closer economic ties with. Why the double standard?
The decontextualisation of ANZAC Day
Everyone else is giving their reckons on the treatment of ANZAC Day this year, as we commemorate the centenary of the first year of World War I. So here are mine.
Our Iraq war policy explained
The government is doing a poor job at explaining our Iraq war policy, but never fear, we have the answers.
David Lange had guts
Slane: National’s clubs
Public support for the Iraq deployment (In which the insightful and knowledgable Mike Hosking springs to the defence of the embattled PM!)
Despite the best efforts of Mike Hosking, the poll numbers tell us that Kiwis have lost their historical appetite for this kind of misadventure.
Petition – Not In My Name
A petition to oppose sending troops to Iraq has gained over 9,000 signatures in its first 24 hours. You can sign the petition here.
Three speeches on going to war
The first three speeches from yesterdays session in Parliament on sending troops to Iraq – John Key, Andrew Little, Russel Norman. Little’s speech is cogent, Norman’s is brilliant.
The price of the club?
Back in 2003, John Key had an interesting take on whether it was appropriate to send troops to Iraq.
ISIS. Crowdsourcing a solution.
So, we’re off to Iraq. If the answer to ISIS isn’t sending Kiwi troops, what do Standardistas think practical alternatives might be?
EDIT: Key announces 143 troops to go to Iraq and support staff.
NZ sending troops to Iraq
New Zealand will be sending troops to Iraq, and you read it first on The Standard. Or in other words, why are we still pretending that the decision hasn’t been made?
Mission Accomplished
“You gotta hand it to John Key: the timing is perfect. On a slow-news Friday at a time when the media is falling over itself to hype the cricket world cup, the last veil drops to reveal al Jaafari and his request for assistance.”
A concise description of the problems in the Middle East
The complexity of the current Middle East situation explained in a single letter to the editor.
So now it’s a family not a club
John Key wanted to be in the Five Eyes “club”, but I guess that didn’t focus group well, so now we’re being fed a new line – “family”.
NZ troops to Iraq?
Key’s public position on sending troops to Iraq has (surprise!) changed since the election. His private position on the topic probably hasn’t changed since 2003.
Key on Iraq
John Key on Iraq in the Herald today:
“We are not a country out there looking for a fight.”
John Key in Iraq in 2003…
Hager: Uncomfortable truths
Phil Twyford on Nicky Hager’s Capt Jack Lyon Memorial Lecture Uncomfortable truths, NZ foreign policy in the ‘war on terror’. As Phil notes: “I think it is a cautionary tale for any future Labour-led government with a progressive, independent foreign policy”.
War talk
Key has put his foot in it again with talk of war against North Korea. Life was so much simpler when he was in opposition…
Iraq war a “success”
So the war in Iraq is “officially” over. The end of a shameful chapter.
Iraq war profiteers
I regard the invasion of Iraq as one of the most shameful events in America’s history. The made up cover story about “weapons of mass destruction” was quickly shown to be a lie. It was always about the oil. And for too many of those on the ground it was always about lining their pockets with billions of dollars worth of slush money.
The Nats on Iraq
The Nats have had two responses to English’s “pull the trigger” comments revealed last night: first the taping itself was branded a “dirty […]
Choosing a Righter Future
A couple more National Party billboards I whipped up in my lunch break. You know, when the original is so godawful it takes […]