Hilary Synnott

Synnott attributes the mess of post-invasion Iraq to Washington, London, the Foreign Office, Bush, Blair, the Department for International Development, the US State Department, the US military, Bremer and the CPA in Baghdad, anybody, in fact, apart from a) the UK military, b) the Iraqis, c) himself and his team.

Doubtless a typically biased and self-serving biography written in the most dreadful prose. Contains an abundance of phrases like "key strategic assets were actively managed by our team of international experts". Synnott complains that the FO back in London (and often the CPA in Baghdad) never read his telegrams; if they were written like this I'm not suprised.

Also entirely sidesteps the larger question of whether the war should have been fought at all, because even if it shouldn't have (Synnott argues) that's still no excuse for poor administrative planing. [Sarcasm:]Yes, Hilary, if that's what you think is important. A true civil servant's book if ever there was one. Oh well, he's enjoying his pension by now.… (mehr)