Global Policy Forum

In a new book entitled "DC Confidential," former British Ambassador to the US Christopher Meyer criticizes Prime Minister Tony Blair for his handling of the Iraq war. Blair was "seduced" by US power, Meyer says, and failed to "exploit his enormous leverage" over Washington in crafting a more reasonable policy towards Iraq. (Guardian)

According to Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, the highest ranking US official punished for prison abuse at Abu Ghraib, high level officials used her as a scapegoat to cover up their own failures. Blame should go as high as US Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Karpinski says, for allowing prisoner abuse to take place. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Malcolm Kendall-Smith, a British Air Force officer, is facing criminal charges for refusing to continue fighting a war in Iraq that he says is illegal. Kendall-Smith's case has raised concerns from British military commanders, who unlike their US counterparts, are bound by the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. As such, they can be prosecuted for violating war crimes and crimes against humanity as defined by the Geneva Conventions. (New Statesman)

Ambassador Robin Raphel, a long-time US diplomat, has accused US policy makers of pursuing ideologically driven goals throughout the invasion and occupation of Iraq. She notes that US officials were largely misinformed by expatriate Iraqis and that administrators in Iraq lacked sufficient preparation for the task of governing the country. Furthermore, political pressure on foreign service professionals was "huge" and "pervasive." (Agence France Presse)

Harold Pinter, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature, speaks out against the US and British led occupation of Iraq in this reprint of a speech he gave after winning the Wilfred Owen Award. Under the guise of "freedom" and "democracy," he says, Iraqis have received torture, murder, and "innumerable acts of…misery and degradation." (Independent)

Democrat Marcy Kaptur read excerpts of this letter from an Iraq War veteran in the House of Representatives in July 2005. In it, the veteran states that what he saw in Iraq "was the total opposite of what President Bush and his administration stated to the American people." Iraqis viewed US troops as occupiers, not liberators, and the insurgency, in contrast to Bush administration claims, is largely composed of "average Iraqis" and not foreign fighters. He says the administration lied about Iraq's weapons program, and asserts that he was "sent off to a part of the world to fight people who never attacked me or my country." (Antiwar.com)

In remarks at a forum on nation-building, the Prime Minister of Poland said that the reconstruction of Iraq has "failed totally," and that "major mistakes have been committed" by the occupiers. Poland has commanded a multinational military contingent in Iraq since September 2003, but the size of that force has dropped from 9,500 soldiers to 4,000. (Scotsman)

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw believes that the British and US occupation of Iraq is fueling the insurgency. In an interview with the Financial Times, he said that the UK would draw down troops once an Iraqi constitution was in place. (Reuters)

Elizabeth Wilmshurst, former Deputy Legal Advisor to the UK Foreign Office, resigned in March 2003 over the Iraq War. In her resignation letter, which the BBCwebsite published in March 2005, she calls the joint US-UK invasion "unlawful" and "a crime of aggression" because the Security Council did not issue a resolution authorizing the use of force.

Carne Ross, an Iraq expert at the British Mission to the United Nations, quit the Foreign Office because of the UK government's conduct over the war in Iraq. Ross, who worked on Prime Minister Tony Blair's dossier on weapons of mass destruction, regards the war as illegal. This article also cites sources who say that the British Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, harbored doubts about the war's legality until shortly before the war. (Sunday Times)

Fifty two high-ranking British diplomats, including former ambassadors, high commissioners, governors and senior international officials, are demanding Prime Minister Tony Blair exert greater influence vis-í -vis the White House's failing Middle East Policy, or stop backing it altogether. (Independent)

Former UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has published his diaries of the lead-up to war in Iraq. Cook, who resigned prior to the invasion, writes of private changes of mind by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and "the nearest thing I've heard to a mutiny in cabinet." (Times, London)

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing pressure from the House of Commons to hold an independent inquiry into the war. This came after the former International Development Secretary, Clare Short, accused the PM of lying to Parliament and agreeing on a "secret" pact with George Bush to go to war.(Independent)

In this article by the former leader of the House of Commons and UK foreign secretary, Robin Cook, outlines the faults in the reasons for going to war with Iraq. In addition, Cook warns the UK government of blindly following the US down another path to war with Iran. (Independent)

Senator Robert Byrd, the Senate's most outspoken critic of the war, accused President George W. Bush for justifying the war by constructing a "house of cards, built on deceit." Byrd also commented on the widespread chaos in Iraq; "if the situation in Iraq is the result of liberation, we may have set the cause of freedom back 200 years." (US Senate)

International Development Secretary Claire Short's statement of resignation in the House of Commons. Short states that Prime Minister Tony Blair is giving special advisers too much power and she urge the Labor Party to start preparing "an elegant succession." (Independent)

Former international development secretary Clare Short resigned. In a letter Short states that Prime Minister Tony Blair made false promises about the need for a "UN mandate to establish a legitimate Iraqi government." (BBC)

This is the resignation letter of Clare Short that served as international development secretary for the Labor government. (BBC)

This is the resignation letter of Mary Ann Wright, the third US diplomat to resign over the war in Iraq. Wright is a former army colonel and a diplomat who helped to re-open the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. (In These Times)

Former leader of the Commons Robin Cook stated that Prime Minister Tony Blair's close support for Washington might cause a permanent rift with Europe. (Guardian)

Robert Fisk of the Independentresponds to British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon's allegations that the there was no conclusive proof that the US bombed a market in Baghdad. Fisk questions if Hoon believes the Iraqis were able to stage "two identical explosions from the air at exactly equidistant points" in a street packed with cars and people.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov stated that the war in Iraq was illegitimate and doubted that democracy can be enforced by Tomahawk cruise missiles. (Russia Journal Daily)

Film director Michael Moore used his Oscar win to speak out against President George W. Bush, stating that the US war with Iraq was for fictitious reasons (Middle East Online)

The distinguished scholar Immanuel Wallerstein discusses the enormous gamble by the US in attacking Iraq and possible difficulties in achieving a quick victory. (ZNet)

Former Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali condemned the US war on Iraq and stated that the "intervention is a violation of the charter of the United Nations." (National Post)

Dr. Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary General of the UN, expresses his view of the war in Iraq. He writes that there are two superpowers, the US and the merging voice of the people of the world. (Christian Science Monitor)

The parents of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old American college student who was killed by the Israeli Army in Gaza, was joined by three Democratic congressmen in warning against the effects of the US war against Iraq on Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. (The Nation)

Phyllis Bennis states that the launch of war has put US citizens at greater risk of terrorist attacks and the consequences are going to be devastating for the people in Iraq. (Institute for Policy Studies)

The Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded a quick end to the US-led attack on Iraq, saying it was unjustified and calling it a "big political mistake." (Reuters)

The day the war was launched on Iraq, US Senator Robert Byrd expressed his outrage that a unilateral attack will isolate the US even more than ever before. (Common Dreams)

Rand Beers, the top National Security Council official in the US "war on terrorism," resigned this week. Intelligence sources say his resignation reflects concerns that the US war against Iraq will hurt counter-terrorism efforts. (UPI)

Raff Ellis of Yellow Timesputs Washington's vague arguments for a war on Iraq into categories ranging from the al-Qaeda link to the moral war of World War II.

The Vatican rejected the 48-hour ultimatum for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq and emphasized that negotiation should continue in the UN Security Council in order to find a peaceful solution. (Australian)

The transcript of Robin Cook's address to the British parliament. Cook, the former UK foreign secretary and leader of the House of Commons, resigned from the government to show his opposition to a war against Iraq without the approval of the UN and the British public. (CNN)

Robin Cook, the leader of the Commons and a former British foreign secretary resigned as a protest to a war on Iraq. (Guardian)

Tam Dalyell, a Labour Party MP who has served in the British House of Commons since 1962, argues that Prime Minister Tony Blair should be removed as leader of the Labour Party if Britain supports a US-led war against Iraq without clearly expressed support from the United Nations. (Globe and Mail)

John Brown, a senior member of the US Foreign Service resigned in protest against US plans for war against Iraq.

According to Professor Paul F. deLespinasse, Secretary Kofi Annan should announce that the US has no authority to evict the weapons inspectors from Iraq and refuse to do it unless it is authorized by the UN Security Council. (Common Dreams)

George Bush Sr. warns his son of the devastating consequences of a unilateral US attack on Iraq and urges George W. Bush to bridge the rift with Germany and France. (Times, London)

The editorial of the New York Timescriticizes George W. Bush's rush to war and it opposes an invasion of Iraq without broad international support.

The eminent scholar Noam Chomsky answers questions about the Iraq crisis. Chomsky predicts a war will result in a devastating blow to Iraqi society, but what might follow is "anybody's guess." (ZNet)

In a New York Timesopinion piece, former US President Jimmy Carter explains why, as a Christian and a former president, he believes that a "unilateral attack on Iraq does not meet the standards" of a just war.

Edward Said argues that for American citizens, the unilateral march towards war led by a small group in the Bush administration must be seen as "a tremendous failure in democracy." (Al-Ahram Weekly)

John Brady Kiesling, a career diplomat serving as a Political Counselor in the US embassy in Athens, has resigned from the Foreign Service. His letter protests against the "narrow and mercenary US interests" that underwrite the Bush administration's plans for a war against Iraq. (New York Times)

Naomi Klein argues that the Bush administration, which has encouraged Iraqis to engage in civil disobedience against Saddam Hussein, should be aware of the chance that citizens of the US and other nations who oppose a war against Iraq might engage in civil disobedience of their own in an effort to stop the war. (Globe and Mail)

Ariel Dorfman, a Chilean writer who spent many years fighting against Pinochet's dictatorship, replies to dissidents in Iraq who are considering whether to support a US-led invasion as the best way to remove the regime of Saddam Hussein. (Independent)

According to the former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, John West, a unilateral attack on Iraq will have disturbing consequences on an already destabilized region. (Greenville News)

Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz discusses his opposition to both Saddam Hussein and to a war against Iraq, as well as the encouragement provided by protests in cities around the world. (Al-Ahram Weekly)

The Vatican attempts to avert a war by sending an envoy, retired Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, to meet with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz. (Los Angeles Times)

This statement, published in the New York Review of Books, urges the US administration not to engage in a first strike against Iraq and calls for the US to work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. It was signed by Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, US Poet Laureate Billy Collins, five Pulitzer Prize winners, and over forty other writers.

In a US Senate floor speech, Robert Byrd condemns the silence in the Senate chambers about the possibility of a US-led war against Iraq, despite the fact that such a war could represent "a turning point in the recent history of the world." (Truthout)

Former South African president Nelson Mandela expressed his opposition to a possible US lead war with Iraq, calling the British Prime Minister Tony Blair a newly deployed "US foreign minister."(Middle East Online)

Denis J. Halliday (former Assistant Secretary General of the UN) and Norman Solomon (Executive Director for Institute for Public Accuracy) express their frustration at the war mongering of George W. Bush and the devastating consequences of a possible US confrontation with Iraq. ( ZNet)

Former UN inspector Richard Butler expressed grave concerns about a possible US war against Iraq. A US attack justified by an Iraqi breach of Security Council resolution 1441 would be a paradox, if the US acts without United Nations approval. (Common Dreams )

General Norman Schwarzkopf, the former commander of US forces in the 1991 Gulf War, expresses concerns for the "human and financial cost" from war with Iraq. In contradiction to the hawkish Bush administration, General Schwarzkopf considers weapons inspections the proper course to follow. (Washington Post )

South African President Thabo Mbeki takes a strong stance against the threat of a US-led war on Iraq. Encouraging the work of the inspectors, he deplores the risk that "the powerful have a right to use the authority of the UN and its prestige as a peace agency, to legitimize a pre-determined decision to wage war." (South African Press Association)

The San Francisco Labor Council adopted the resolution "Labor Needs to Take a Clear Stand Against the War," declaring "Bush's war…has become the main engine for the repression of labor." The Council endorses the antiwar activities planned for January 18 and calls for a revival of Martin Luther King's unification of the antiwar, labor, and civil rights movements. (International ANSWER)

United States Conference of Catholic Bishopsurges Iraq to comply fully with resolution 1441 "to ensure that this UN action will not simply be a prelude to war but a way to avoid it."

On behalf of the bishops of England and Wales, the Archbishop of Westminster calls for the lifting of sanctions and the moral responsibility to avoid war. The Archbishop argues that "the lifting of comprehensive sanctions and the reintegration of Iraq into the international community is the route which must now be explored." (Guardian)

The next Archbishop of Canterbury criticizes military action against Iraq. He warns that a pre-emptive strike could rapidly and uncontrollably spiral down into chaos and he questions the self-interests, especially the matter of oil, involved in an attack on Iraq. (Daily Telegraph)

Veteran newsman Walter Cronkite argues that a US-UK military action against Iraq without support from the UN can set forth World War III. Cronkite believes that a two-stage resolution endorsed by the UN would legitimize actions on Iraq and gain the needed international support. (Bryan - College Station Eagle)

Jean-Paul Chagnollaud, director of Confluences-Méditerranée in Paris, analyses the French political debate on the Iraq crisis. He argues that all French arguments converge on two essential points, disarmament of the Iraqi regime and the importance of the UN and respect of international law. (MERIP)

American actor Woody Harrelson takes stand against a war on Iraq and heavily criticizes US politics. He argues that the White House has "hijacked a nation's grief and turned it into a perpetual war on any non-white country they choose to describe as terrorist." (Guardian)

Former Canadian Foreign Minister Mr. Lloyd Axworthy argues that you can either act as President Bush's "staunch ally" and violate "every treaty and agreement that puts a restraint on its ambition to be the dominant power" or play by UN rules and weigh the evidence about Iraqi intentions and act thereafter. (Toronto Globe and Mail)

Former Marine Corporal Anthony Swofford who fought in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq writes: "I knew that I was breathing into my lungs the crude oil I was fighting for." (New York Times)

Former US Ambassador to Iraq Ms. April Glaspie met with Saddam Hussein on July 25 1990, only 8 days before he invaded Kuwait. According to this excerpt from a transcript of their meeting, the two talked about oil prices, how to improve US-Iraq relations, and how the US has "no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait." (New York Times)