Anthony Charles Lynton Blair due on trial in the Hague

David Halpin looks at the litany of crimes for which former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will have to account sooner or later.

Examination of this picture shows Ali Abbas was subjected to radiated heat

Ali Abbas's trunk, hands and forearms were incinerated by US bombs

Ali Abbas survived but his entire family were burnt by the Americans

On the same day the BBC reported that former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister
Tariq Aziz was to go on trial after five years in prison over the deaths of
a group of Baghdad merchants in 1992, it was rumoured the former prime
minister of Britain will be indicted for crimes against humanity. The list
of charges is long and not confined to the many alleged crimes in Iraq. Mr
Blair's whereabouts are uncertain; he has been sighted occasionally in
occupied East Jerusalem where he is acting as "peace" envoy for the
"Quartet". Most recently, he has been facilitating industrial zones for the
employment of Palestinians and for the removal of a few of the over 500
Israeli Occupation Force roadblocks.

The charge list includes:

[ali_abbas.jpg]

Breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention from the time he became prime
minister in 1997 until March 2003 during whichtime draconian sanctions were
being applied to the civilian population of Iraq. These sanctions prompted
the resignation of Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck who served as
assistant secretaries-general of the UN. The former stated that the effect
of those sanctions was genocidal. It was established that there was an
excess mortality of babies and children of at least 500,000 between 1992 and
2003. This had to do with foul water, poor nutrition and deteriorating
medical services, all of which were satisfactory before the sanctions took
hold.

Conspiracy to join with another power in aggressive war, the supreme
international war crime, contrary to the Nuremberg Rules and the provisions
of the Charter of the United Nation. This was first made public when he
joined Mr George Bush, President of the United States of America, and
Britain for bloodied steaks over a barbecue at Crawford Ranch in April 2002.

High treason (betrayal of one's country, sovereign or government) in
manufacturing a case for war, the central one of which was the alleged
possession of weapons of mass destruction by Iraq. This in itself gave no
grounds because the possession of such was no basis for a military assault
on a sovereign country. Three aggressive nations, the US, UK and Israel,
have held weapons of mass destruction for decades; no attempt has been made
to disarm them. The grounds for UK military action against Iraq changed as
the unlawful operation proceeded under the guise of liberation of the people
and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The part played by the "sofa
cabinet", three of whom were unelected, in promulgating a war fought on
behalf of Her Majesty is being minutely examined by law officers. One such
cabinet member, Mr Charles Powell, recently stated on BBC TV that the aim of
the war was the removal of Saddam Hussein from power. He would know that was
an illegal aim. Ann Clywd MP was appointed Mr Blair's human rights envoy in
Iraq. She has continuously claimed a virtuous aim ... [but the fact is that]
at least a million Iraqis have been killed, about 40 per cent of whom will
have been children. Using a conservative ratio, at least two million will
have been maimed.

[ali_abbas2.jpg]

Mr Blair is charged with a litany of war crimes that followed the invasion,
one of which is the failure of the "coalition of the willing" to halt the
further deterioration in the quality and quantity of medical services in
Iraq which had already worsened during the 12 years of sanctions. Another
obligation of an occupier is to maintain security for the populace. The very
opposite happened. Disbanding the Iraqi army and other Baathist structures
was central to the violent chaos which followed the invasion. Protecting the
heritage of a country is another obligation of an occupier in international
law. Mr Blair failed as leader to meet these and he is so charged.

The general charges in this indictment are followed by an annex which
details names in which there has been death or extreme injury.

The charges also include collusion in a military and political coalition
which has used banned weapons. The use of white phosphorus at Fallujah by
the US was admitted. Armour-penetrating tank and cannon shells, as well as
"bunker busting" bombs and missiles, have used depleted uranium. Uranium
U238 is dispersed widely as a very fine dust; it has been detected as far
away as the UK. Iraqi doctors claim that there have been dramatic rises in
grotesque deformities in babies born prematurely, in leukaemia and in other
malignancies.

The list of charges includes the case of Ali Abbas, then 12 years of age and
formerly of the village of Zafaraniya, which is 30 miles from Baghdad, and
his deceased family: his mother who was six months pregnant, his father,
brother and at least 10 other relatives. It has been reported that, just
after midnight on 30 March 2003 and 10 days into "Operation Iraqi Freedom",
a weapon or two weapons exploded.

We had all gone to bed and there was this loud noise and smoke. I felt very
scared and I was in much pain. I kept shouting for my mother. I did not
know at the time what had happened to her.

A photograph taken in hospital in Baghdad shows that Ali was burned across
his trunk and that his hands and forearms were incinerated. His head, neck,
abdomen and legs were unblemished. Examination of this photograph shows this
boy was subjected to the most intense radiated heat - not contact heat.

[ali_abbas3.jpg]

It seems likely that his head and lower half were screened from the source
of this radiation by a window aperture or similar, given the rectangular
pattern of the thermal injuries. The weapon that caused such rapid
incineration is unknown. It certainly was not a thermobaric weapon as used
currently in Iraq and Gaza. Uranium weapons give rise to a fireball as the
dust ignites. This can melt steel but there are no photographs of human
victims of such attacks which match the incineration of the arms of Ali
Abbas, although these weapons have been used frequently - both in the Gulf
War and in the ongoing Iraq War. The clandestine use of a small tactical
nuclear weapon cannot not be ruled out.

The authorities will require that Ali Abbas comes to the Hague to give
evidence. However, he has not been able to leave Baghdad since last summer.
He has of course required someone else to attend to his every toilet need
and to his dressing. An uncle provided that for him whilst he grew from boy
to man at the private boys school in London and where he excelled
scholastically. Another uncle took over last summer but a visa has not been
forthcoming from the UK.

The US named Tariq Aziz the Eight of Spades, thus coming 43rd in the United
States' set of 55 playing cards. His trial for involvement in the hanging of
40 alleged racketeers started on 29 April under a Kurdish judge and a
military occupation.

The central charge against Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is that he has
caused the death of thousands upon thousands of Iraqi civilians, the maiming
of many more and the displacement of over four million people. Unlike the
treatment of those humans, his hearing will be fair.

It is understood that he will be able to receive a Catholic priest in the
cell which was formerly occupied by Slobodan Milosevic. The prison chaplain
will encourage further study of "faith", which with globalization were the
topics of Mr Blair's address in Westminster Cathedral. The
commander-in-chief of the USA spoke of the "sanctity of life" when he was
receiving the Pontiff in Washington recently. This principle will be applied
to Anthony Charles Lynton Blair but probably not to the deputy prime
minister of Iraq.

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David Halpin FRCS is a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon. He founded the Dove
and the Dolphin [4] charity, one of whose aims is to promote the health and
welfare of Palestinian children.

References:
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