Globe Trot: Brits mull Chilcot while Americans review Clinton saga

BRITAIN: The long-awaited Chilcot report released today is so long—at 12 volumes and 2.6 million words—leading British press outlets have reporters sequestered to digest it and are asking readers for help.

The report concludes Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein posed “no imminent threat” to Britain, and a “strategy of containment” could have continued.

The BBC has the key findings.

“As of the 17th of March 2003 there was no middle way,” said then–Prime Minister Tony Blair today, in an impassioned response in which he said he accepted “full responsibility” for the “most agonizing” decision during his decade as prime minister.

UNITED STATES: The Select Committee on Benghazi’s report issued last week runs only 800 pages, and important takeaways are continuing to emerge from it, especially now that it appears clear that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be tried only in the court of public opinion.

A newly significant aspect of the report is the extent to which political insiders at the White House were making decisions in the critical hours of the attack, often overruling Defense Department and intelligence experts. President Barack Obama, presumably on the advice of those insiders, skipped his daily intelligence briefing the day after the Benghazi attack.

Critical to the timeline is the six-hour delay between the time President Obama ordered action to protect the U.S. compound in Benghazi and when White House chief of staff Denis McDonough actually sent an email with the order (see pages 141–143 of the report). Now also looking more at the four-day delay of FBI deployment to lead the investigation in Benghazi.

FBI Director James Comey’s full statement on Clinton’s “careless” handling of classified emails has been well-parsed elsewhere. What I find strange, after watching and re-watching and rereading Comey’s statement, is that he did what leading law-enforcement officials are always careful not to do: He presumed to be judge and jury, too:

“Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. Prosecutors necessarily weigh a number of factors before bringing charges. …”

NIGERIA: State and national government officials have remained silent over the brutal murder of Evangelical Church Winning All leader and pastor Joseph Kurah by Fulani herdsmen. Kurah was dismembered with machetes while tending his farm last week, as the Fulani are replacing Boko Haram terrorists in carrying out religious cleansing of Christians from northern Nigeria.

The Buhari government has reportedly cracked down on Boko Haram, but increasingly reports show linkage with Fulani gangs.

AUSTRALIA: Counting continues as national elections remain too close to call. A poor showing by the incumbent center-right coalition of Martin Turnbull could impact the country’s triple-A credit rating amid an economic slowdown.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

“Australia has notched up 24 years without a recession—the longest current streak in the developed world—and its problems are such that other economies might wish for.”

COLOMBIA: A ceasefire agreement signed June 23 between FARC rebels and the government—ending one of the longest insurgencies in history—may not end targeted violence against Christians, say church leaders.

SYRIA: Young girls are turning to suicide to escape sexual enslavement, early marriages, and other Islamic State abuses.

BRAZIL: Rio police say they can’t protect Olympic visitors, while health experts warn the U.S. rowing teams’ antimicrobial suits can’t defeat Rio’s polluted waters.