Teflon Tony

Lt Gen Frederick Viggers, Britain’s senior military representative in Iraq, today said lives had been lost in Iraq as a result of the fact that “amateurs” who did not have the experience to perform were in key roles.

Lt Gen Viggers said the operation had suffered from a lack of direction and a clear idea of what would be faced from the beginning.

“It was rather like going to the theatre and seeing one sort of play and realising you were watching a tragedy as the curtains came back,” he said.

Without naming individuals, he said he blamed those at the highest levels of government.

“I am not talking about the soldiers and commanders and civilians… who did a great job. But it’s the intellectual horsepower (sic) that drives these things [which] needs better co-ordination,” he said.

Blair, at the highest level of Government, perhaps could be excused amateur status since by the time of the Iraq crusade, sorry invasion, he had a taste for war. I guess Iraq was one war too far. Oops – no, that was Afghanistan, Iraq was two wars too far.

Another day at the Chilcot Inquiry and another civil servant lines up to point the finger of blame for the Iraq fiasco firmly at Tony Blair.

As the Guardian reports, Sir John Scarlett used his moment under the spotlight to insist that the controversial foreword to the ‘dodgy dossier’, written and signed by Blair, was “overtly political” and had nothing to do with the intelligence contained in the dossier itself.

At the same time it was leaked that the information on the controversial and untrue 45 minute allegation that formed so much of Blair’s argument for war was actually information based on the ramblings of a taxi driver.

Al Jazeera are reporting that Blair’s time may be up and he looks like he is showing the strain. After another day of carnage in Baghdad reflects the abject failure of Blair’s illegal war let’s hope he feels it a little more.