2006 Series
IRAQ: THE FAILURE OF WAR
"War hasn't worked in Iraq. It was an optional war - of dubious legality, insufficiently supported and ineffective in delivering the hoped for outcome."
Martin Bell
Friday 13th January 7.30pm
Sunday 15th January 4.35am
"War hasn't worked in Iraq. It was an optional war - of dubious legality, insufficiently supported and ineffective in delivering the hoped for outcome."
Martin Bell
Friday 13th January 7.30pm
Sunday 15th January 4.35am
Veteran war reporter Martin Bell kicks off the new series of 30 Minutes with a powerful film arguing that war is an increasingly unreliable and unjustifiable means of solving conflicts in the 21st century.
Martin Bell is no pacifist. But the reporter, known by his trademark white suits ever since he first wore one during the Balkans conflict in which he was wounded, has spent the best part of 50 years experiencing the cruelties of war at first hand. Starting as a soldier, later as a war correspondent, and most recently as an ambassador for UNICEF, Bell’s views on war have evolved: from supporter to sceptic. Except in the most tightly defined circumstances, Bell now believes that war is avoidable, intolerable and a deplorable waste of human life.
Bell interviews soldiers and politicians and fellow journalists who have experienced the devastation of war at first-hand – among them: General Sir Rupert Smith, Lord Healey and Robert Fox. But he also shows the changing nature of war - how in the wars of the early 20th century, 90 per cent of casualties were military and 10 per cent civilian, whereas today the numbers have been reversed.
The Iraq war fails all Bell’s tests for military success - the force involved was not proportionate, it was not sufficiently supported at home and it was of dubious legality. Unlike wars of the past where military force has been the last resort, Bell argues that this was not an obligatory war – we chose to invade Iraq and the war is failing. The longer the occupation – the more combustible the insurgency.
As a former MP, Martin Bell has his doubts about the politicians who led us to war: he is confounded by the lack of military experience in the Commons: not a minister or junior minister in office today has served as part of the armed forces – and these are the very people making life and death decisions. Lord Healey highlights the "very silly and dangerous" plans for war and pins the blame on a lack of experience.
Bell believes that the aftershocks of the war in Iraq could be a turning point for Britain’s stance on war. He hopes that more cautious politicians, more truthful journalism and more sceptical Chiefs of Staff could secure a peaceful future.
Martin Bell is no pacifist. But the reporter, known by his trademark white suits ever since he first wore one during the Balkans conflict in which he was wounded, has spent the best part of 50 years experiencing the cruelties of war at first hand. Starting as a soldier, later as a war correspondent, and most recently as an ambassador for UNICEF, Bell’s views on war have evolved: from supporter to sceptic. Except in the most tightly defined circumstances, Bell now believes that war is avoidable, intolerable and a deplorable waste of human life.
Bell interviews soldiers and politicians and fellow journalists who have experienced the devastation of war at first-hand – among them: General Sir Rupert Smith, Lord Healey and Robert Fox. But he also shows the changing nature of war - how in the wars of the early 20th century, 90 per cent of casualties were military and 10 per cent civilian, whereas today the numbers have been reversed.
The Iraq war fails all Bell’s tests for military success - the force involved was not proportionate, it was not sufficiently supported at home and it was of dubious legality. Unlike wars of the past where military force has been the last resort, Bell argues that this was not an obligatory war – we chose to invade Iraq and the war is failing. The longer the occupation – the more combustible the insurgency.
As a former MP, Martin Bell has his doubts about the politicians who led us to war: he is confounded by the lack of military experience in the Commons: not a minister or junior minister in office today has served as part of the armed forces – and these are the very people making life and death decisions. Lord Healey highlights the "very silly and dangerous" plans for war and pins the blame on a lack of experience.
Bell believes that the aftershocks of the war in Iraq could be a turning point for Britain’s stance on war. He hopes that more cautious politicians, more truthful journalism and more sceptical Chiefs of Staff could secure a peaceful future.
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