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When should an Iraq inquiry take place?

Jack Straw sounded absurd this morning on the Today programme. His argument that an inquiry needed to wait on the completion of our mission in Basra was unconvincing.

And he finished with the headache inducing contention that there was a difference between the moment our troops had completed their task and the moment they came home. Which left me wondering why troops that had completed their task would still be there. For the sunshine?

Ed Davey of the Liberal Democrats sounded more reasonable, and was making a political point that was fair enough (that the Tories had supported the war). But when I thought about it later I decided that he, not Straw, had been making that morning's most ludicrous point.

Davey was demanding an apology from supporters of the war and intends to press that point as an amendment to the motion calling for a war inquiry.

In other words he wants an apology first, followed by an inquiry into whether an apology is necessary.

Next he'll be having a three line whip in order to abstain.

America and Iraq: Failed romance?

As the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war rolled around, a number of mea culpas rang out from the media.

Five of Slate's writers confessed how they got things wrong. A failure to consider security, a false estimation of sectarian tensions and too much trust in Colin Powell all made the grade.

But one writer has no such qualms. Here's the irrepressible Christopher Hitchens on why he was right.

A much-wanted war criminal was put on public trial. The Kurdish and Shiite majority was rescued from the ever-present threat of a renewed genocide. A huge, hideous military and party apparatus, directed at internal repression and external aggression was (perhaps overhastily) dismantled. The largest wetlands in the region, habitat of the historic Marsh Arabs, have been largely recuperated. Huge fresh oilfields have been found, including in formerly oil free Sunni provinces, and some important initial investment in them made. Elections have been held.

And for those who think a little light relief is in order, check out Vanity Fair's take on the ill-fated romance between American and Iraq.

Hey, America, have I got the country for you. She’s extremely hot, fascinatingly complex, and oozes gallons of energy. One word of warning, though: she’s a bit high-maintenance

Humorous save for one note of foreboding:

Wait—I know someone else available, lives right next to her, similar personality … almost the same name! I’m sure you’ve learned your lesson and can handle it better this time. Interested?

Alice Fishburn

Five years on: The debate over Iraq

Five years after the war in Iraq began, two Times columnists debated the decision in a series of letters. 

For readers who missed it, here is their correspondence.

-- Matthew Parris to David Aaronovitch: We have damaged ourselves — and it was avoidable

-- David Aaronovitch to Matthew Parris: The sanctions were failing, people were dying

-- Matthew Parris to David Aaronovitch: Neocons and their supporters have lost the argument

-- David Aaronovitch to Matthew Parris: The future is where all the judgments must be made

And the final word:

-- Nabil Mohammed Younis of Baghdad University to Matthew Parris and David Aaronovitch: The use of violence against us has left a terrible legacy

The writings of David Kilcullen

Rachel Sylvester had this to say in her Telegraph piece this morning.

Mr Brown looks increasingly to the writings of David Kilcullen, a retired Australian army officer who now advises the US State Department.

Here's your Kilcullen reader:

-- George Packer in The New Yorker: Knowing the enemy

-- David Kilcullen in eJournal USA: New paradigms for 21st century conflict

-- David Kilcullen in Small Wars Journal: Anatomy of a tribal revolt

-- David Kilcullen in Iosphere: Twenty-Eight Articles: Fundamentals of Company-Level Counterinsurgency

Twofer: My life in Baghdad

In our latest Twofer, Deborah Haynes tells us about daily life in Baghdad. The Iraq-London phone line is a little wobbly but stick with it for some excellent insights.

You can read more on her Inside Iraq blog.

The end-game in Iraq

It's the question no-one has an answer to. How will things end in Iraq?

This new Fora video gives it a shot. Solutions offered cover everything from troop reduction schemes to bringing in the tooth fairy. Watch it now.

If you can't see this video, click here

The less than 3 trillion dollar war

You will recall that Joseph (rhymes with Twiglets) Stiglitz has published a new book arguing that the Iraq war has been a huge economic disaster, costing $3tn dollars. (Here's a summary of his argument).

This is likely to be very influential. Once you get a number out there people anchor to it. They may produce a number less than 3 trillion but it will always be of that sort of magnitude.

Now Amity Shlaes takes issue with Stiglitz. Rather convincingly in my opinion.

She says his book makes two major errors. First, he massively overestimates the impact of the Iraq war on the price of oil. And second, he doesn't properly account for the cost of the alternative policy of containment.

Besides, if you use:

the standard method of calculating costs of wars, defense spending as a share of gross domestic product, Iraq's price is improbably modest.

The danger to journalists

As another journalist faced captivity in Basra this week, the annual report from Reporters Without Borders reminds readers of the risks of the profession.

At least 86 journalists were killed in 2007 and 924 arrested. Iraq, unsurprisingly, remains the most dangerous location. Others are illustrated by this excellent Economist map, which you can see in full here.

Who else has mislaid their data?

Turns out that our leaders aren't the only ones losing valuable information...

Alice Fishburn

The story of the interpreters

The Times reports today on the red tape currently preventing Iraqi interpreters from entering Britain.

Additional colour is provided by the ever-excellent Inside Iraq blog. Deborah Haynes brings us more on the interpreters' stories and the heartbreaking wait that they currently endure. Check it out.

Alice Fishburn

Is the surge working?

Some interesting new figures out there. According to Coffee House, civilian deaths have halved this month and there are real signs that things may be improving.

But it's also worth reading The Onion's unique take. As they say, not-so-horrible things are now happening routinely in Iraq. But not-so-horrible remains a long, long way from good.

Alice Fishburn

What are all the Googlers doing?

Recently, we asked whether you could pass the Google job test.

Looking at their latest job figures, it seems some of you must have done. CNET News reports a massive increase in hiring.

The company added 2,130 workers to its roster, bringing the head count to 15,916. What do nearly 16,000 people do at a company that doesn't make widgets (at least in the hardware manufacturing sense of the word)? That's an average of about 35 people showing up for their first day of work each business day during the past three months.

How do they keep themselves occupied? Well, there's the free meals...the 'creative thinking' time...the scooters...

Alice Fishburn

Outstanding journalism

You can't fault The Onion's coverage of the Middle East. Superb reportage.

Robbie Millen

Is it wrong to accuse the BBC of Middle East bias?

A couple of weeks ago I accused the BBC of bias in its Middle East coverage. Now I am wondering if I made a mistake.

Hear me out.

A couple of days ago the social psychologist Robert Cialdini went to 10 Downing Street to discuss environment policy. The main thrust of his remarks concerned what he calls "descriptive social norms". One of the stories he told his audience was this:

Not long ago, a graduate student of mine visited the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona with his fiancée—a woman he described as the most honest person he’d ever known, someone who had never taken a paperclip or rubber band without returning it. They quickly encountered a park sign warning visitors against stealing petrified wood, “OUR HERITAGE IS BEING VANDALIZED BY THE THEFT OF 14 TONS OF WOOD EVERY YEAR.”

While still reading the sign, he was shocked to hear his fiancée whisper, “We’d better get ours now.”

What could have spurred this wholly law-abiding young woman to want to become a thief and to deplete a national treasure to boot? I believe it has to do with a mistake that park officials made when creating that sign. They tried to alert visitors to the park’s theft problem by telling them that many other visitors were thieves. In so doing, they stimulated the behavior they had hoped to suppress by making it appear commonplace—when, in fact, less than 3% of the park’s millions of visitors have ever taken a piece of wood. Park officials are far from alone in this kind of error.

Indeed. For isn't this the mistake I was making by accusing the BBC of bias?

People take their cue from others. They behave as they think they are supposed to behave. Say that I argue that Jeremy Bowen's memo blaming the Hamas-Fatah violence on Israel is typical of the BBC. He is biased, like all the other correspondents. What am I saying? That bias against Israel is the social norm in the BBC, that if you are work for the BBC that is how you are supposed to be.

This might make the problem I am fighting against, worse.

What might work better? To say that Jeremy Bowen is letting down the BBC with his rare memo. That most employees of the BBC strive hard to be fair and that Bowen is departing from the norm.

Just a thought.

The strange reaction to Saddam's hanging

The Press Gazette records that only 25 people complained to Ofcom about the television footage of Saddam's execution, while 1,000 complained about the eviction procedure on Big Brother.

Whether or not you quite agree with this ranking of priority, do you share my view that there has been something strange about the reaction to the hanging?

Politicians and commentators seem to be furious that someone shouted "Boooooo, down with dictators" or whatever, while ignoring the fact that Saddam was hanged. Now, Saddam and I don't have quite the same way of looking at things, but I am pretty certain that if I were in the same position as he, I'd be more hacked off at being executed than I would at being heckled while it was happening. Then again, perhaps that's just me.

Both John Prescott and David Cameron excused themselves from commenting on the execution, because that was a matter for the Iraqis, before condemning the booing, which apparently is open to foreign criticism.

I'm obviously missing something.

How wise was the Baker report?

So how wise was it?

Not very is Gerard Baker's conclusion. Our US editor demonstrates his admirable toughness of mind with a pretty sceptical look at James Baker's work.

Gerry argues that the only real point of the exercise was to allow George W. Bush to exercise a U-turn with as little humiliation as possible. But, by rejecting so much of the Adminstration's policy, the Study Group hastn't left the President much wiggle room.

Gerry sounds like he's got it right to me.

Anyway, read it for yourself.

A lone liberal in the Middle East

Are there any liberals left in the Middle East. Haven't they all fled to happier climes? Well, liberalism is alive in Beirut's Daily Star. It's worth reading this piece by Michael Young, a Lebanese national and the opinion editor of that newspaper about what Washington's new foreign policy realism really means. He argues that it means the United States cosying up to all the old tyrants and oppressors in the name of stability:

It's ironical that Arab liberals should now applaud the onset of a realist American foreign policy toward the Arab world. Liberals always argued that unless the West preoccupied itself with the domestic evils of Arab regimes, they would be vulnerable to the policemen and intelligence agents tormenting them. They can now rest assured: The "neo-imperial" US has increasingly less of an intention to defend their cause, and with realists back in the forefront, ample philosophical justification not to do so. 

A depressing but powerful article.

Robbie Millen