Latest news with #Chilcot
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
How Australia's 'no-worries' approach has led our nation's defence astray
With the precision of a barrister and the venom of a politician betrayed, Malcolm Turnbull has torpedoed the credulous heart of Australia's multibillion-dollar AUKUS evangelism, raising the question: are we the only true believers? If the answer turns out to be yes, and we may know soon, the unhealthy consensus between our two major parties will have been exposed as the most naive conflation of our security interests with those of another country since Iraq, or even Vietnam. "The UK is conducting a review of AUKUS" the former Liberal prime minister tweeted. "The US DoD [dept of defence] is conducting a review of AUKUS. But Australia, which has the most at stake, has no review. Our Parliament to date has been the least curious and least informed. Time to wake up?" Maybe. We don't really do introspection and we're not much inclined towards looking backwards, either. To its credit, the UK allowed seven years for its Chilcot inquiry into Britain's disastrous enthusiasm for the Iraq invasion. It found that non-military options had been deliberately overlooked, that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, and that the UK had too willingly agreed with America in sexing up intelligence. An easily beguiled Australia was along for the ride, unlawful and unethical as it all was. Yet an Australian equivalent of the Chilcot process was never embarked on in the years after. Lessons went unlearned. When it was unveiled in September 2021, AUKUS quickly became the new big thing - one of those binary faith questions in mainstream politics and most media. There were only two types: believers and apostates. The tripartite Anglophone deal for nuclear subs came as a rude shock to the French who had been contracted (by the Turnbull government) to build our next generation of conventionally powered submarines. The costs were gargantuan but the long-term punt on unfailing US delivery was far greater because it relied on future administrations and unknowable security challenges in the decades ahead. Change of president? No worries. Everybody in Washington is onboard, the story went. Now, with Anthony Albanese on his way to the Americas for a possible first-ever meeting with Donald Trump, AUKUS is suddenly under active review to assess its consistency with Trump's populist rubric, "America First". Few really know where Trump stands or if he has ever thought about AUKUS. What is clear is that the president's acolytes are fuming about Australian sanctions on far-right members of Netanyahu's cabinet and are looking askance at Albanese's recent statements affirming Australia's exclusive right to set levels of defence spending. Then there's the whole trade/tariff argument. READ MORE: These eddies will make for trickier conditions than Albanese might have imagined only days ago. Might it even see a bilateral meeting delayed or downgraded as a rebuke to Australia? With friends like Trump, literally anything is possible. Which, by the way, is why blind faith in AUKUS has always been disreputable. With the precision of a barrister and the venom of a politician betrayed, Malcolm Turnbull has torpedoed the credulous heart of Australia's multibillion-dollar AUKUS evangelism, raising the question: are we the only true believers? If the answer turns out to be yes, and we may know soon, the unhealthy consensus between our two major parties will have been exposed as the most naive conflation of our security interests with those of another country since Iraq, or even Vietnam. "The UK is conducting a review of AUKUS" the former Liberal prime minister tweeted. "The US DoD [dept of defence] is conducting a review of AUKUS. But Australia, which has the most at stake, has no review. Our Parliament to date has been the least curious and least informed. Time to wake up?" Maybe. We don't really do introspection and we're not much inclined towards looking backwards, either. To its credit, the UK allowed seven years for its Chilcot inquiry into Britain's disastrous enthusiasm for the Iraq invasion. It found that non-military options had been deliberately overlooked, that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, and that the UK had too willingly agreed with America in sexing up intelligence. An easily beguiled Australia was along for the ride, unlawful and unethical as it all was. Yet an Australian equivalent of the Chilcot process was never embarked on in the years after. Lessons went unlearned. When it was unveiled in September 2021, AUKUS quickly became the new big thing - one of those binary faith questions in mainstream politics and most media. There were only two types: believers and apostates. The tripartite Anglophone deal for nuclear subs came as a rude shock to the French who had been contracted (by the Turnbull government) to build our next generation of conventionally powered submarines. The costs were gargantuan but the long-term punt on unfailing US delivery was far greater because it relied on future administrations and unknowable security challenges in the decades ahead. Change of president? No worries. Everybody in Washington is onboard, the story went. Now, with Anthony Albanese on his way to the Americas for a possible first-ever meeting with Donald Trump, AUKUS is suddenly under active review to assess its consistency with Trump's populist rubric, "America First". Few really know where Trump stands or if he has ever thought about AUKUS. What is clear is that the president's acolytes are fuming about Australian sanctions on far-right members of Netanyahu's cabinet and are looking askance at Albanese's recent statements affirming Australia's exclusive right to set levels of defence spending. Then there's the whole trade/tariff argument. READ MORE: These eddies will make for trickier conditions than Albanese might have imagined only days ago. Might it even see a bilateral meeting delayed or downgraded as a rebuke to Australia? With friends like Trump, literally anything is possible. Which, by the way, is why blind faith in AUKUS has always been disreputable. With the precision of a barrister and the venom of a politician betrayed, Malcolm Turnbull has torpedoed the credulous heart of Australia's multibillion-dollar AUKUS evangelism, raising the question: are we the only true believers? If the answer turns out to be yes, and we may know soon, the unhealthy consensus between our two major parties will have been exposed as the most naive conflation of our security interests with those of another country since Iraq, or even Vietnam. "The UK is conducting a review of AUKUS" the former Liberal prime minister tweeted. "The US DoD [dept of defence] is conducting a review of AUKUS. But Australia, which has the most at stake, has no review. Our Parliament to date has been the least curious and least informed. Time to wake up?" Maybe. We don't really do introspection and we're not much inclined towards looking backwards, either. To its credit, the UK allowed seven years for its Chilcot inquiry into Britain's disastrous enthusiasm for the Iraq invasion. It found that non-military options had been deliberately overlooked, that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, and that the UK had too willingly agreed with America in sexing up intelligence. An easily beguiled Australia was along for the ride, unlawful and unethical as it all was. Yet an Australian equivalent of the Chilcot process was never embarked on in the years after. Lessons went unlearned. When it was unveiled in September 2021, AUKUS quickly became the new big thing - one of those binary faith questions in mainstream politics and most media. There were only two types: believers and apostates. The tripartite Anglophone deal for nuclear subs came as a rude shock to the French who had been contracted (by the Turnbull government) to build our next generation of conventionally powered submarines. The costs were gargantuan but the long-term punt on unfailing US delivery was far greater because it relied on future administrations and unknowable security challenges in the decades ahead. Change of president? No worries. Everybody in Washington is onboard, the story went. Now, with Anthony Albanese on his way to the Americas for a possible first-ever meeting with Donald Trump, AUKUS is suddenly under active review to assess its consistency with Trump's populist rubric, "America First". Few really know where Trump stands or if he has ever thought about AUKUS. What is clear is that the president's acolytes are fuming about Australian sanctions on far-right members of Netanyahu's cabinet and are looking askance at Albanese's recent statements affirming Australia's exclusive right to set levels of defence spending. Then there's the whole trade/tariff argument. READ MORE: These eddies will make for trickier conditions than Albanese might have imagined only days ago. Might it even see a bilateral meeting delayed or downgraded as a rebuke to Australia? With friends like Trump, literally anything is possible. Which, by the way, is why blind faith in AUKUS has always been disreputable. With the precision of a barrister and the venom of a politician betrayed, Malcolm Turnbull has torpedoed the credulous heart of Australia's multibillion-dollar AUKUS evangelism, raising the question: are we the only true believers? If the answer turns out to be yes, and we may know soon, the unhealthy consensus between our two major parties will have been exposed as the most naive conflation of our security interests with those of another country since Iraq, or even Vietnam. "The UK is conducting a review of AUKUS" the former Liberal prime minister tweeted. "The US DoD [dept of defence] is conducting a review of AUKUS. But Australia, which has the most at stake, has no review. Our Parliament to date has been the least curious and least informed. Time to wake up?" Maybe. We don't really do introspection and we're not much inclined towards looking backwards, either. To its credit, the UK allowed seven years for its Chilcot inquiry into Britain's disastrous enthusiasm for the Iraq invasion. It found that non-military options had been deliberately overlooked, that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, and that the UK had too willingly agreed with America in sexing up intelligence. An easily beguiled Australia was along for the ride, unlawful and unethical as it all was. Yet an Australian equivalent of the Chilcot process was never embarked on in the years after. Lessons went unlearned. When it was unveiled in September 2021, AUKUS quickly became the new big thing - one of those binary faith questions in mainstream politics and most media. There were only two types: believers and apostates. The tripartite Anglophone deal for nuclear subs came as a rude shock to the French who had been contracted (by the Turnbull government) to build our next generation of conventionally powered submarines. The costs were gargantuan but the long-term punt on unfailing US delivery was far greater because it relied on future administrations and unknowable security challenges in the decades ahead. Change of president? No worries. Everybody in Washington is onboard, the story went. Now, with Anthony Albanese on his way to the Americas for a possible first-ever meeting with Donald Trump, AUKUS is suddenly under active review to assess its consistency with Trump's populist rubric, "America First". Few really know where Trump stands or if he has ever thought about AUKUS. What is clear is that the president's acolytes are fuming about Australian sanctions on far-right members of Netanyahu's cabinet and are looking askance at Albanese's recent statements affirming Australia's exclusive right to set levels of defence spending. Then there's the whole trade/tariff argument. READ MORE: These eddies will make for trickier conditions than Albanese might have imagined only days ago. Might it even see a bilateral meeting delayed or downgraded as a rebuke to Australia? With friends like Trump, literally anything is possible. Which, by the way, is why blind faith in AUKUS has always been disreputable.
Middle East Eye
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
UK MPs join Corbyn's call for 'Chilcot-style' inquiry into UK role in Gaza
A cross-party group of British MPs has backed former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's recent call for a "Chilcot-style" inquiry into the UK's involvement in Gaza. In a letter to the prime minister on 4 March, Corbyn - now an independent MP - argued that Britain has "played a highly influential role in Israel's military operations". He recalled the Chilcot inquiry into the invasion of Iraq, which found that Tony Blair's government had based its decision on "flawed intelligence and assessments". Corbyn urged a similar inquiry into Britain's complicity with Israel's assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 61,000 people. Now, Labour MPs Richard Burgon, Brian Leishman and Diane Abbott have joined Corbyn's fellow members of the Independent Alliance, independent MP Zarah Sultana, the Scottish National Party's Brendan O'Hara and Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer in backing the demand. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "Britain has played a highly influential role in Israel's military operations, including the sale of weapons, the supply of intelligence and the use of Royal Air Force bases in Cyprus," the group said in a letter to The Guardian on Thursday night. "Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of democracy. Therefore we are demanding an independent, public inquiry into the UK's involvement in Israel's military assault in Gaza." The letter added that the inquiry should "require the full cooperation of ministers involved in decision-making processes since October 2023". "Many people believe that the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law. These charges will not go away until there is an inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth." 'Officials are bullied into silence' This comes after former foreign office official Mark Smith said last month that he witnessed "conduct that I believe crossed the threshold into complicity with war crimes" among officials. British Foreign Office official Mark Smith resigns over UK 'complicity in war crimes' in Gaza Read More » "Officials are bullied into silence," he reported. "Processes are manipulated to produce politically convenient outcomes. Whistleblowers are stonewalled, isolated and ignored." In his original letter, Corbyn referred to a January report from the British Palestinian Committee, which detailed the procurement of weapons from the Israeli military industry and the use of British military bases. The Royal Air Force base Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus is used by the UK, US and Germany to supply Israel with 'weapons, personnel, and intelligence'. The report argues that the UK "is not simply failing in its third-party responsibilities to uphold international law, but is actively complicit in genocidal acts perpetrated against the Palestinian people".
The Guardian
13-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
We need a public inquiry on Britain's role in war on Gaza
In the aftermath of the Iraq war, several attempts were made to establish an inquiry surrounding the conduct of British military operations. Published in 2016, the Chilcot inquiry found serious failings in the British government, which ignored the warnings of millions of ordinary people over its disastrous decision to go to war. History is repeating itself. Today, the death toll in Gaza has reportedly exceeded 61,000. Two Israeli officials are wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Britain has played a highly influential role in Israel's military operations, including the sale of weapons, the supply of intelligence and the use of Royal Air Force bases in Cyprus. Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of democracy. Therefore we are demanding an independent, public inquiry into the UK's involvement in Israel's military assault in Gaza. This inquiry should establish exactly what decisions have been taken, how they have been made and what consequences they have had. Any meaningful inquiry would require the full cooperation of ministers involved in decision-making processes since October 2023. Many people believe that the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law. These charges will not go away until there is an inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth. Jeremy Corbyn Independent Alliance, Brendan O'Hara Middle East spokesperson, Scottish National party, Carla Denyer Co-leader, Green party, Brian Leishman Scottish Labour, Diane Abbott Labour, Zarah Sultana Independent, Richard Burgon Labour
Middle East Eye
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Jeremy Corbyn demands 'Chilcot' style inquiry into UK complicity in Israel's war on Gaza
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has urged UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to establish an independent "Chilcot-style" enquiry into the UK's involvement in Israel's war on Gaza. In a letter to the prime minister, Corbyn - who sits in parliament as an independent MP - argued that Britain has "played a highly influential role in Israel's military operations". "Many people believe that the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law," he wrote, pointing to Britain's sale of weapons and supply of intelligence to Israel. He recalled the Chilcot inquiry into the invasion of Iraq, which found Tony Blair government's decision was based on "flawed intelligence and assessments". Corbyn urged a similar inquiry into Britain's complicity with Israel's assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 61,000 people. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "We have repeatedly asked for the truth regarding the role of British military bases," Corbyn wrote. "And we have repeatedly requested the publication of legal advice behind the Government's (currently unknown) definition of genocide. "Our requests have been met with evasion, obstruction and silence." 'Complicity' A government spokesperson told Sky News: "Our priority since day one has been a sustainable ceasefire, and a lasting peace that will ensure the long-term peace and security of both Palestinians and Israelis. "We must build confidence on all sides that helps sustain the ceasefire and move it from phase one through to phase three, and into a lasting peace and an end to the suffering on all sides." New report lays out full extent of UK-Israel military partnership in Gaza Read More » This comes after former Foreign Office official Mark Smith said last month that he witnessed "conduct that I believe crossed the threshold into complicity with war crimes" among officials. "Officials are bullied into silence," he reported. "Processes are manipulated to produce politically convenient outcomes. Whistleblowers are stonewalled, isolated and ignored." In his letter, Corbyn referred to a January report from the British Palestinian Committee which detailed the procurement of weapons from the Israeli military industry and the use of British military bases. The Royal Air Force base Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus is used by the UK, US and Germany to supply Israel with 'weapons, personnel, and intelligence'. The report argues that the UK "is not simply failing in its third-party responsibilities to uphold international law, but is actively complicit in genocidal acts perpetrated against the Palestinian people".
Arab News
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
UK govt urged to launch Iraq war-style inquiry into Gaza conflict
LONDON: The UK government must launch an independent Iraq war-style inquiry into Britain's involvement in the Gaza conflict, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said. He made the appeal in a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer seen by Sky News. There is public concern that British officials have been involved 'in the gravest breaches of international law' because of the UK's ties to Israel, Corbyn said. 'These charges will not go away until there is a comprehensive, public, independent inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth.' In the letter, the independent MP said he had been investigating and seeking answers on the UK's sale of F-35 jet components to Israel, the involvement of British military bases in the war, and the legal definition of genocide. But Corbyn said he has been met with 'evasion, obstruction and silence.' The government is 'leaving the public in the dark over the ways in which the responsibilities of government have been discharged,' he added. Corbyn warned that 'history is repeating itself,' drawing parallels to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war, which found that the UK's decision to invade the country was based on 'flawed intelligence and assessments.' The inquiry's report was published in 2016 and contained significant criticism of former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Corbyn will now work with colleagues 'in pursuing all avenues to establish an independent inquiry' into the Gaza war, the letter said. 'Today, the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 61,000,' it added. 'At least 110,000 — or one in 20 — people have been injured. It is estimated that 92 percent of housing units have been destroyed or damaged. 'Two Israeli officials are now wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.' Starmer has struggled to contain divisions within his Labour Party over the war in Gaza, and faced criticism for suggesting that Israel had a right to limit essential supplies to the Palestinian enclave The previous government under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was warned last April — in a letter signed by more than 600 lawyers and academics, as well as three former Supreme Court justices — that it was in breach of international law by continuing to supply Israel with weaponry. The current government suspended some arms sales to Israel, but did not pause licenses for components of the F-35 jet that has been used by the Israeli military to strike Gaza. A UK government spokesperson said: 'Our priority since day one has been a sustainable ceasefire, and a lasting peace that will ensure the long-term peace and security of both Palestinians and Israelis. 'We must build confidence on all sides that helps sustain the ceasefire and move it from phase one through to phase three, and into a lasting peace and an end to the suffering on all sides.'
