Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s “apology” at the weekend concerning aspects of the 2003 war in Iraq was widely seen as an attempt to get out in front of the likely release of the long-awaited investigation into his role in the conflict. An announcement is expected this week on the release date for the Chilcot Report, six years in the making.
(Private Eye)
In an interview with CNN‘s Fareed Zakaria , Blair said:
“I apologise for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong. I also apologise for some of the mistakes in planning and, certainly, our mistake in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime.”
He also acknowledged that events at the time had in some way contributed to the rise of ISIS.
“Of course you can’t say those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015.”
But amid the clamor for legal process or the sense of resignation that it’s just one more unaccountable politician, maybe the final, prescient, word – for now – should be this:
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WORLD
Someone who clearly isn’t apologizing, for anything, even a little, is Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, yeah…
https://twitter.com/videosofscience/status/658477531616514048
The words “Chris Christie” and “quiet” don’t often appear in the same sentence, but the entire internet seemed to be on board a New Jersey Acela on Sunday.
https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/658436796322291712
There were elections all over the place this weekend.
And a couple coming up…
In Florida…
For a remarkable tweet-by-tweet account of the event, look at the timeline of Tampa Bay Times reporter Craig Pittman.
Sunday was the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt
Britain’s House of Lords is to vote on Monday on the Conservative government’s controversial plan to reduce tax credits as part of welfare reforms.
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BUSINESS
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MEDIA
Sigh… Maybe these troll-polls have gone a bit too far…
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SPORTS
Lewis Hamilton won the US Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday to become F1 World Champion for the third time, equalling the accomplishment of Ayrton Senna and Sir Jackie Stewart.
The Premiership’s bottom club Aston Villa are looking for a new manager, parting company with Tim Sherwood after losing at home to Swansea City.
Could a man called Tokyo Sexwale lead FIFA? Yeah, why not…?
https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/658434080489517056
Next weekend’s Rugby World Cup final will be – as widely expected – between New Zealand and Australia.
The Overnight Note 