The British government's decision to hold a secret whitewash into the Iraq war has come under attack from an unusual source: the military.
General Sir Mike Jackson, head of the Army during the Iraq invasion, said: "I would have no problem at all in giving my evidence in public." He said Mr Brown's decision that the proceedings be held in private fed "the climate of suspicion and scepticism about government", adding that the Prime Minister ought to consider requiring witnesses to give evidence on oath.So, half the people whose actions are being inquired into are quite happy to do it in public. The ones who aren't are the ones who are guilty: the politicians.[...]
Air Marshal Sir John Walker, the former head of Defence Intelligence, said: "There is only one reason that the inquiry is being heard in private and that is to protect past and present members of this Government. There are 179 reasons why the military want the truth to be out on what happened over Iraq."