Friday, 30 May 2014

'I'm sickened': Dead soldier's mother slams Iraq Inquiry 'whitewash' #BringBackOurGirls #Entertain9jar via @myentertain9jar

THE mother of a teenage soldier killed in Iraq says she is "sickened" by the decision to publish only partial extracts of talks between Tony Blair and George Bush in the run-up to the Iraq war.

 Rose Gentle, whose son died in the Iraq War, says she is 'sickened' by the Iraq Inquiry[PA]
Rose Gentle, whose son 19-year-old Gordon was killed in June 2004, believes the former prime minister is "laughing" at bereaved families and will "walk away from it with a smile on his face".
Campaigners reacted with fury to yesterday's publicised decision to limit disclosure about the exchanges to "gists and quotes" - branding the move a whitewash.
Years of negotiations over the publication of the "vital" material is believed to have caused the delay in publication of the long-awaited Chilcot Inquiry report into the Iraq invasion.
"I feel sickened," Mrs Gentle said.
"How will the families get to know the truth? We are just shoved aside. We just feel: 'What's the point?'
"I think Tony Blair has got a lot to do with the decision. He is kind of behind it."
 Sir John Chilcot's Inquiry is believed to have been plagued by delays [PA]
How will the families get to know the truth? We are just shoved aside. We just feel: 'What's the point?
Rose Gentle, Gordon Gentle's mother
Last week, Mr Blair said he "resented" any suggestions he was responsible for the Inquiry's slow progress and has repeatedly asserted that he hopes the report is published as soon as possible.
But Mrs Gentle said any plans to limit disclosure would mean the families were "still going to be wondering" about what had actually gone on between Mr Blair and Mr Bush.
"I think it is definitely (a whitewash)," she added.
"I feel Tony Blair is going to walk away from it with a smile on his face. I feel he is laughing at us."
The contentious material which campaigners want published includes 25 notes from Mr Blair to Mr Bush and more than 130 records of conversations between the former prime minister and the then-US president.
Former Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay, who was a member of the foreign affairs select committee, said: "I am not surprised that Chilcot has surrendered. 
 The Iraq Inquiry has said 'gists and quotes' from Blair and Bush Iraq War talks may be released [PA]
"It is a bad, bad day for democracy and justice. The establishment of this country, and the security and intelligence services, have won again. Truth has lost out."
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Sir John Major insisted that Mr Blair could step in to allow full disclosure of his conversations with Mr Bush.
The Tory warned that publishing only partial extracts would allow suspicions to accelerate.
"I think it is a pity the papers are going to be withheld for several reasons," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
"Firstly, they will leave suspicions unresolved and those suspicions will fester and maybe worsen.
"Secondly, in many ways I think withholding them is going to be very embarrassing for Tony Blair, not least of course because he brought the Freedom of Information Act into law when he was in government."
Major said there were "strict rules" that prevented the current Government from getting involved and insisted it was down to Labour or Mr Blair to approach the Cabinet Office to give the go-ahead for the papers to be released.

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