Entries in May, 2004
The appointment of John Scarlett
Wednesday, May 12th, 2004Concerns, some legitimate, about the appointment of the new head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6): the failure in the WMD dossier affair to maintain the essential distinction between (a) the collection and analysis of intelligence, and (b) the formulation and public presentation of government policy.
Abuse of Iraqi Prisoners
Wednesday, May 12th, 2004The abuse of Iraqi prisoners and others by Coalition troops: UK ministers’ failure to recognise that abuses by the Americans are a British concern, too; growing tendency of ministers to excuse their failures by claiming not to have been told about them, not an acceptable let-out. The beheading of an American in Baghdad. Spreading anti-Americanism in Europe: its causes, but a lamentable phenomenon.

