An anniversary

Saddam Hussein was executed after a long and open trial on January December 30, 2006. This is not a particularly important anniversary but people seem to be talking about it so I thought I'd link to the pieces we wrote at the time on EUReferendum. This is the Boss, writing on the day, this is one of mine a couple of days later and another one just over a week later. I still think we were right.

Ten years

The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating selection of photographs from the ten years since the start of the second Iraqi war.

Fraser Nelson seems to get it

Presumably I am not the only person who is thoroughly bored with the Chilcot Inquiry, which as the Boss over on EUReferendum had predicted on numerous occasions, has wasted its time on pointless toing and froing about the start of the war, dossiers, legality and illegality (as if there were such a concept when it comes to war) and, above all, allowed all sorts of civil servants, senior military officers, and important legal advisers to explain that they never wanted the war, no, indeed, it was all that nasty Blair-man.

There has also been a resurgence of the "saintly David Kelly was most certainly murdered because he would have done such things otherwise" school of political thought. All of it is too boring for words and is, needless to say, displacement activity. While everyone goes haring after those dossiers and discusses David Kelly ad nauseam, no attention is being paid to what really matters and that is British failure during the occupation of southern Iraq. This is or used to be, as readers of both blogs know, the Boss's particular subject and I am not about to wade into it. He has written much and very eloquently.

However, it is worth pointing out that one journalist, Fraser Nelson, now editor of the Spectator does get it, as this article shows. But, of course, it was not just Blair. One man could not have created that disaster on his own.

Surely this counts as good news

My attention was drawn to this story, which appears to have had no coverage in our media. Yet, it must count as good news from Iraq.

Thomson Reuters today announced that the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) will become the first bank in the country to connect to the international foreign exchange and money market community using the Thomson Reuters Dealing trading service.

By joining the professional international foreign exchange community through Thomson Reuters Dealing, TBI will for the first time be able to access liquidity and counterparties across global money markets electronically.

Until now, TBI has been managing its foreign exchange (FX) and funding needs by telephone.

It is something of a given among people who have anything remotely resembling good sense (i.e. not politicians or NGO personnel) that the best way forward for any country that is poor for whatever reason (in this case, years of appallingly corrupt and bloodthirsty dictatorship, then war and civil war) is to develop economically. Being able to integrate into the world financial system and to be part of a high-powered electronic system will help the Trade Bank of Iraq and, probably, other Iraqi banks. Thomson Reuters, one assumes, sees this as a profitable deal, rather than charitable activity.

It is, however, interesting that all the coverage of the story comes from Middle Eastern news websites, such as Al Bawaba, Khaleej Times and Trade Arabia. Was nobody else at the Dubai press conference or were they all too busy reporting Dubai's own financial travails? Apologies: CNN published the press release with other information.