85/. #OTD 20 years ago, Iraq rejected the US ultimatum for Saddam Hussein & his sons to leave the country

The UN was obliged to pull its arms inspector out of the country

A massive military force was amassed around Iraqi borders

The stage was set for war
#IraqInvasion #IraqWar Image
86/. “As the US prepares to attack Iraq, it is doing so on the basis of a number of allegations against Saddam Hussein that have been challenged - & in some cases disproved - by the UN, European govts & even US intel reports”

#OTD this @washingtonpost story was buried on page 13 Image
87/. #OTD “Operation Shock & Awe” began

The continuous bombing campaign involved around 1,700 air sorties (504 cruise missiles)

Over 7,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the bombing

Many more lives would be lost…
#IraqInvasion #IraqWar #Iraq20YearsOn
88/. In WWI, 10% of all deaths were civilian

In WWII, that number rose to 50%

In the Vietnam War it was 70%

In the #IraqWar, civilians accounted for up to 90% of all deaths

A 2008 ORB poll found that over one million Iraqis had died as a result of the conflict
#Iraq20YearsOn ImageImage
89/. Millions of Iraqis were displaced & cities reduced to rubble

Basic political institutions & social infrastructure was dismantled

The effects of the thousands of tons of munitions & fatal chemicals wrought ongoing human & environmental devastation in #Iraq.
#Iraq20YearsOn Image
90/. The 2004 battle for Fallujah saw much of the city razed to the ground & the rubble bulldozed to the banks of the Euphrates River, the city’s source of drinking water

The US military were forced to admit the use of white phosphorus on Iraqi civilians
#Iraq20YearsOn #IraqWar Image
91/. Fallujah saw an epidemic of birth defects due to depleted uranium

A report to the European Committee on Radiation Risk found Fallujah had “the highest rate of genetic damage in any population every studied”

Now the US Navy is naming a warship USS Fallujah
#Iraq20YearsOn Image
92/. Across Iraq, the extensive use of depleted uranium is thought to have led to the dramatic spike in cancer (particularly among children), brain tumors, infant mortality, & miscarriages

Hundreds of babies are now born with severe congenital deformities
#Iraq20YearsOn #IraqWar Image
93/. Twenty years ago, Blair said:

“History will be my judge”

Now, as we mark #Iraq20YearsOn, we can judge for ourselves…& doesn’t look good, Tony

People in the US & UK might say “Not in my name”

But the reality is that it WAS done by our govts, in all of our names
#IraqWar Image
94/. “The #IraqWar was illegal & immoral. We may have failed to stop the invasion, but by putting ourselves in harm’s way we sent a message to the world"

As the bombing began, Eric Levy - who died last year - was in a Baghdad power station: one of 80 Human Shields who’d stayed
95/. “Coalition forces will make every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm” (Bush)

#OTD 20 years ago, Bush & Blair each went on television to address their respective nations & announce that US & UK forces had invaded #Iraq “from air, land & sea”
#Iraq20YearsOn #IraqWar ImageImage
96/. #OTD 20 years ago, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy chief legal adviser at the Foreign Office resigned, stating: “an unlawful use of force on such a scale amounts to the crime of aggression"

The govt removed a key passage of her resignation letter
#Iraq #Iraq20YearsOn #IraqWar Image
97/. In the 20yrs since the #IraqWar, not a single person responsible for it has been brought to justice

"Our legal, political & media institutions have made a mockery of the idea of accountability" says @AmirAmirani noting that many of the architects of the war “failed upwards” ImageImageImageImage

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More from @StefSimanowitz

Mar 7
1/. Tmw, Amnesty Turkey's former Chair Taner Kılıç & Amnesty Turkey's ex-director, İdil Eser, Özlem will be back in court facing absurd "terrorism" charges

@amnesty & @aforgutu will be there to demand their acquittal after almost 6 years of judicial farce
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
2/. These politically-motivated prosecutions aim to silence critical voices in Turkey

Over the course of 12 hearings, every allegation levelled against these human rights activists was repeatedly & comprehensively proven baseless

It’s taken a heavy toll
3/. This morning, two of my ex-@amnesty colleagues are back in court on absurd terror charges

They were arrested with 9 others, almost 6 years ago

2+ million people around the world have called them to be given justice

Today @aforgutu are at the court
Read 6 tweets
Mar 3
1/. On 5 March 2020, the BBC reported that a 70 year-old woman in Reading had became the first Briton to die of COVID19

Three years on - this Sunday - we mark #CovidMemorialDay by lighting a candle at 7pm & observing a minute's silence to honour the dead
covidmemorialday.org.uk
2/. One doesn’t truly recover from loss. If you are lucky, you will heal from loss. But never completely

Shakespeare warns that if we fail to "give sorrow words the grief will o-er wrought heart & bid it break"

#CovidMemorialDay we give our sorrow words
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
3/. In the UK, #COVID deaths became so entwined with politics that the simple act of grieving became almost a political act

But grief doesn’t care about politics

You could be left or right - @piersmorgan or @Piers_Corbyn - & feel the same need to grieve.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 1
Leaked emails show Matt Hancock ignored advice to test all people entering care homes during the pandemic

On 13/5/20, I broke the #CareHomeScandal👇

Three years on, these leaks reveal Hancock decided not to make it mandatory to test those entering care homes from the community! Image
“We stuck to the science like glue” @BorisJohnson

“We were guided by the science. We didn't always follow the science" HANCOCK

Cod behavioural science gave us “behavioural/lockdown fatigue”

Asymptomatic spread was ignored

Many errors were made…but these weren’t ‘mistakes’👇 ImageImageImageImage
The NHS is the most trusted brand in the UK

Cambridge Analytica is the least trusted

Yet #Palantir reportedly taught CA how to scrape data

Is the big plan deregulation in order to allow the hoovering up of genomic data to give levels of power & control only ever dreamed of?!
Read 8 tweets
Feb 25
Anyone on Twitter know what this might be?

A square of metal (iron?) embedded two feet beneath the soil, pulled up by a 350 year old fallen tree, on the ancient thoroughl-fare (now Mill Lane) that ran beside the River Fleet (Highgate Brook)
UPDATE: After some delicate excavation, it seems as if the ancient iron square exposed by the fallen oak is attached to an iron post (gate post?)

For a history of the River Fleet - London’s most beautiful subterranean waterway - see below👇
UPDATE: Curiosity got the better of me…

After two more hours of delicate excavation, the iron post was ready to give up its secrets

Interested @MuseumofLondon @CityCorpHeath @Tony_Robinson @sixteenthCgirl @Raksha_Digs @CarenzaLewis @sanditoksvig @GallagherBrigid @thetimeteam?
Read 8 tweets
Feb 15
1/. Last Sept, far-right Giorgia Meloni became Italy’s PM

Among her targets are refugees & migrants - a go to scapegoat for populists & neo-fascists

Today a decree will be voted on

If passed it will hinder NGO rescues at sea & result in returns to Libya
2/. The legislation risks resulting in more deaths at sea & is being introduced in tandem with a new ‘distant ports’ policy requiring NGO ships to disembark rescued people far from where they're rescued

The policy was ruled "unlawful" by an Italian court thelocal.it/20230213/itali…
3/. #BREAKING: The Italian parliament has approved Meloni's decree which will inevitably lead to more suffering

“These measures are clearly designed to hinder NGOs undertaking life-saving search and rescue missions in the central Mediterranean" @amnesty amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
Read 5 tweets
Feb 13
1/. A week ago, 2 powerful earthquakes shook the region near the Turkish-Syrian border, claiming tens of thousands of lives & opening 190-mile-long fissure

Humanitarian crises that result from natural disasters can create human rights issues & exacerbate existing vulnerabilities
2/. After any natural disaster, the free flow of information is critical

So why did the authorities in Turkey restrict Twitter?

According to @IndexCensorship, the Twitter throttling - which lasted 12 hours - “was a direct response to political criticism"
indexoncensorship.org/2023/02/the-sh…
3/. Last week, a 3-month state of emergency was announced which included prison terms for anyone “spreading fake news, exaggerated rumours & news intended to cause panic”.

There have been numerous reports of journalists threatened, harassed, detained or prevented from reporting.
Read 9 tweets

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