There's been plenty of accountability over Iraq....

[Chomp]

When people say that there has been no accountability over Iraq, I have to disagree.

Here are 8 people who have been recently held to account over Iraq, and I will leave it to you to assess their high crimes and misdemeanors.


1. George Galloway, Scottish Member of (British) Parliament
Galloway this week appeared before the US senate committee. They alleged there were discrepencies in the finances of a charity he set up in the 90's, The Mariam Appeal. The charity was founded to aid Iraqi child victims of sanctions and war. The allegations against Galloway have been widely shown to be unsubstatiated and discredited. Galloway has been Britain's most outspoken anti-war politician.


2. Greg Dyke, Director-General, BBC
Was forced to resign as head of the BBC for standing by a BBC reporter, Andrew Gilligan, who had reported that Downing Street had manipulated evidence on Iraqi WMD in the run-up to war. Dykes' resignation came after the most extreme political pressure imaginable from Downing Street. The biggest media scandal of my lifetime by some way. Dyke to that point was the most popular and successful head of the BBC for generations. The report has since been proven correct.


3. Gavyn Davies, Chairman, BBC
Dyke's boss, who also fell on his sword over the same scandal, also having stood by the origianl report and by Dyke. Came under similar pressure from No. 10.


4. Dr. David Kelly, British UN arms inspector to Iraq
Committed suicide after he became embroiled in a shitstorm whipped up by No. 10 over the BBC allegations. Essentially, he came under devastating pressure after it was leaked by his Foreign Office bosses that he was the inside source who had briefed Gilligan for the BBC report. Kelly was threatened with sacking and removal of pension benefits if he stood by his allegations to Gilligan. He had told Gilligan that he believed that there had been manipulation of WMD intelligence by senior politicians. Found dead in the woods, wrists slashed after the pressure got to him.


5. Kofi Anann, DG, UN
Getting pilloried over the Iraq Oil-for-Food programme. Will be fatally weakened by the fallout. Anan was anti-war and has called it illegal.


6. Lindy England, US Army Private
The lowest possible ranking runt. Paid for her crimes despite compelling evidence that she was acting in line with broader US policy approach as set out by Msrs. Bush, Rumsfeld and Gonzalez.


7. Newsweek Magazine
Getting nailed for a story that they could not later stand up. A silly error on their part, given the essential truth of the story.


8. Piers Morgan, Editor, Mirror Newspaper (UK)
Forced to resign after photographs purporting to show British soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners (abu-Gharib style) were proven to be fakes. Like Newsweek, the details were wrong, but the wider truth was true. Morgan and the Mirror were the most outspoken mainstream media voices against the war.



Accountability has never been in ruder health.