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Bliar in dock for Hutton

Sian Glaessner | 28.08.2003 21:20 | London

Pinocchios Against the War and Occcupation joined many others today in protest outside the Hutton enquiry as Blair arrived. The "Pinocchio" noses spread like wildfire through the demonstrators, and attracted quite a bit of media attention. The thoughts of Mr Blair about the pinocchio nosed Blair-alike wearing a "Trust me- I'm Tony" placard, are not known.

Over an hour before Mr Blair arrived at the Hutton enquiry, crowds of protestors had gathered. Many popping in on their way to work, many more "off sick", for- like all those who queued overnight to witness the proceedings inside, the demonstrators were there for a reason. Disgusted by the continuing "spin" on the war and causes of war, outraged by the criminal negligence shown by the occupying forces in Iraq- people gathered to demand truth or resignation from a Government and a Prime Minister who have shown utter disregard for the due process of law, and basic principles of human rights.

The Hutton enquiry only looks at a few of Blair’s lies that tragically led to one man’s death. The road to war was paved with lies:

LIE: ‘[T]he UN … tried unsuccessfully for 12 years to get Saddam to disarm peacefully.’ Tony Blair, Independent on Sunday, 2 March 2003
REALITY: A ‘99 UN Security Council panel set up to assess the UN's achievements in disarming Iraq concluded that: ‘Although important elements still have to be resolved, the bulk of Iraq's proscribed weapons programmes has been eliminated.’

LIE: ‘[T]he oil revenues, which people falsely claim that we want to seize, should be put in a trust fund for the Iraqi people administered through the UN.’ Tony Blair to the House of Commons, 18 March ‘03.
REALITY: Britain co-sponsored a Security Council resolution, which was passed in May, giving the US and UK control over Iraq's oil revenues. There is no UN-administered trust fund.

The Government also lied to us about: the threat posed by Iraq; Iraq’s links to terrorism; the legal status of the war; and their own motives for going to war (ie. that it was about ‘disarmament’ or ‘human rights’, rather than oil and power).

Up to 20,000 Iraqis – including over 6,000 civilians – died as a result of these lies and today Iraq is under military occupation, with its political and economic future in the hands of the Bush administration’s ideologues. Don’t let them get away with it!

Please write to your MP to demand:
- that the British Government publish all of the intelligence it held on Iraq prior to the war.
- that the US/UK end their military occupation and allow Iraqis to determine their own political and economic future free from foreign interference

For more information see 36 Lies that Helped Launch the War by Glen Rangwala:  http://middleeastreference.org.uk/ios030711.html. This leaflet produced by voices uk, 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX. tel. 0207 837 0561. www.voicesuk.org.

Sian Glaessner

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