The Public Transcripts 41 General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue KCB CBE Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Health), 2002 to 2004 Chief of Defence Logistics, 2005 to 2007 and Chief of Defence Material, 2007 to 2009

The saga of the lack of unmanned aerial vehicles continued as General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue KCB CBE Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Health), 2002 to 2004 Chief of Defence Logistics, 2005 to 2007 and Chief of Defence Material, 2007 to 2009 was asked repeatedly about the lack of UAVs and repeatedly replied that "I dont know".

The Public Transcripts 40 Mark Etherington CBE Head of Provincial Reconstruction Team, Basra, 2006 to 2007

Mark Etherington CBE Head of Provincial Reconstruction Team, Basra, 2006 to 2007 talked about what it was like on the ground. 

The Public Transcripts 39 Sir Jonathan Cunliffe CB Managing Director, Financial Regulation & Industry, 2002 Managing Director, Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance, HM Treasury, 2002 to 2007

Sir Jonathan Cunliffe CB Managing Director, Financial Regulation & Industry, 2002 Managing Director, Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance, HM Treasury, 2002 to 2007 talks about the Treasury's attempts to guess on the impact of the war on the oil price and the impact that would have on the UK. His statement that the increase of the oil price to a peek of $150 rather than $40 has had little effect on the world economy seems to fly in the face of the reality of the credit crunch which may not be related but for as long as I've been working in the oil industry when I'm making money everyone else is broke and when everyone else is making money I'm broke...? 

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?