The Public Transcripts 38 Sir John Holmes Ambassador, Paris, 2001 to 2007

Sir John Holmes Ambassador, Paris, 2001 to 2007 contradicts Jack Straw saying that the French actually contacted him to explicitly correct the misinterpretations being applied to President Chirac's use of the words "this evening" at the time and that Jack Straw and other senior politicians knew of these communications because he made sure they knew by sending a vey diplomatic telegram.

The Public Transcripts 37- Iain McLeod Legal Counsellor to the United Kingdom’s Mission to the United Nations 2001 to 2004

Iain McLeod Legal Counsellor to the United Kingdom’s Mission to the United Nations, 2001 to 2004 says he believes the legal advice was correct because the resolutions allowed military action for even minor material breaches but that that didn't make it legitimate because what people had in their minds as the reason for going to war wasn't the real reason for it.

The Public Transcripts 36 - Cathy Adams who wrote the drafts of Lord Goldsmith's legal advice

Cathy Adams who wrote the drafts of Lord Goldsmith's legal advice on how the start of the document and the end of the document seem to conflict with each other.

MOD Flow Chart

 After this it was the role of the Bruce Mann CB, Tom McKane, and Trevor Woolley CB the Director General Financial Management and the Director General Resource & Plans to talk about paying for and planning the war in detail.  I cant claim to be able to understand the internal decision making procedures of the MOD but I did find this flowchart which has made it all as clear as mud.

It seems pointless to repeat their testimony as Gordon Brown has now retracted his statement to the Inquiry that spending on defence just went up all the time he was Chancellor and Prime Minister and whenever the Inquiry asked whether they had to choose between funding the Afghanistan or Iraq conflict or which had higher priority...I am unable to disentangle the circumlocution or they fall back on claiming that priorities are a political decision.  So who knows?

The Public Transcripts 35 Tim Foy

 The Iraq Inquiry then moved on to the view from Baghdad and Basra from 2004 to 2006 interviewing Consul Generals, deputy heads of mission in Baghdad and Basra and minor functionaries Lindy Cameron, Simon Collis, Tim Foy and James Tansley.  It is quite hard to comprehend their evidence as the inquriy interviewed them collectively rather than as individuals - to quote Sir John Chilcot  "This is, in rugby terms, a sort of rolling maul, I think."

As the participants at these hearings were not all civil servants the sessions were in private and though transcripts were made available large sections are redacted on the grounds of National Security, International Security and to protect diplomatic relations.

Although hidden away in the waffle and technical FO-speak is this rather blunt exchange

Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points...

 David Miliband professes not to be an expert in International law. As do many of those commenting on this page. Which raises the question... ...where does International Law come from anyway....? The answer is that it is, ironically for neo-Conservatives, largely an American invention and the UN was invented to arbitrate it. The UN replaced the League of Nations which was slightly discredited by World War II. The League of Nations was born of the 1919 peace conference at Versailles at the end of World War I and its founding principles were based on President Woodrow Wilson's 14 points. The Fourteen Points were based on the research of "the Inquiry", a team of about 150 advisors led by foreign-policy advisor Edward M. House into the topics likely to arise in the anticipated peace conference. So rather than any more analysis of what is legal or illegal under international law... ...let's go back to the start. Here are the 14 points again ,,, as read by Sarah Palin: 

The Public Transcripts 34 David Miliband

Douglas Alexander and David Miliband (the ministers responsible for trying to sort out the post Iraq invasion situation) also gave evidence but as they hadn't been involved much in the build up to war no one was really interested in what they had to say.  David Miliband was closely questioned on the legal case for war....

...he went on to say he thought the war had actually been good for Britain's international reputation in the middle east .....by linking himself so closely and uncritically with the Blair government's position on the Iraq war he gave his younger brother Ed a political stick to beat him with in the later battle for the Labour Party leadership so this testimony is actually quite interesting historically.