Tuesday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced an independent committee would hold an inquiry into British involvement in the Iraq war. However, he has come under criticism for his decision to conduct the inquiry in private.
“It’s especially important, of course, for the families: the mothers, the fathers, the brothers and sisters, the grandmothers and grandfathers of those people who lost their lives in Iraq. They desperately want to know why these young men and young women died, for what reason did they die in Iraq. And that again, those answers can only be given to them if the inquiry is held in public.”
That was video from
ITN - broadcasting thoughts from a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament. He says those involved in the war deserve answers, which won’t necessarily happen with a private inquiry.
The Daily Mail agrees, calling the inquiry ‘an insult to democracy’. It also says the mystery surrounding it is representative of the war in general.
“So the Iraq War is to end as it began - under a blanket of secrecy and deceit, spun to keep the public in the dark about how Britain came to be ensnared in this bloody and shameful disaster... So much for Mr. Brown’s much-vaunted commitment to a ‘new era’ of transparency and openness.”
However, some British media outlets see the merits of a private inquiry.
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Times Online writer has the perspective that a private inquiry may actually be more revealing.
“Hearing evidence in private, which is not the same as keeping conclusions secret, is justifiable too. It may encourage greater candour by witnesses.”A
Telegraph blogger backs that up, calling this “the first sensible thing [Gordon Brown] has said in months.”
“It’s simplistic to believe that a public inquiry will deliver a truer verdict than a private one.”
Sky News talks to William Hague, a Senior Member of the Conservative Party, who suggests the year-long inquiry is timed strategically.
“... the result of the inquiry isn’t until after the latest possible date for the next general election. They could have started the inquiry, as we’ve often pointed out, at any time over the last year or two while we were disengaging from Iraq.”Copy the code and paste it to your blog or website:
