Once Upon a Time in Iraq may sound like the start of a fairytale, but is in fact the stuff of modern nightmares.
The book by James Bluemel and Dr Renad Mansour formed part of my lockdown reading, written to accompany the landmark BBC series of the same name.
If you haven’t already watched it I suggest you do as it is one of the most remarkable pieces of journalism I’ve ever seen. Over half of those interviewed were ordinary Iraqis, voices we don’t often hear in the west but really should listen to more.
The so called ‘War on Terror’ was a huge failure and destabilised the world in a way that threatens us all, causing a refugee crisis as desperate people flee Islamic State, whose power increased dramatically, feeding on an anti west movement caused by the decision to invade both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The horror stories from the book, based on 100 hours of conversations with Iraqi people, former soldiers, journalists and the families of dead veterans were fresh in my mind as I watched politicians debate the second reading of the Overseas Operations Bill.
Clauses in the service personnel and veterans bill would stop serving and former military personnel from what defence secretary Ben Wallace claims are a “vexatious” cycle of claims and re-investigations.
The British government has been concerned for some years over what some legal experts say is a potential tsunami of civil and criminal cases against soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan by the people of those countries.
Last month, as the bill went through its second reading in Westminster, Labour sacked three junior shadow ministers who joined with Jeremy Corbyn and 14 other Socialist Campaign Group MPs in breaking the party’s whip by voting against the controversial legislation.
If passed the new law means presumption against prosecution applies to offences such as war crimes and torture, the Labour rebels say this is a breach of international humanitarian law.
The bill only covers overseas territories where an official war was declared.
There was an attempt by some MPs in the early days of the legislation to include the actions of British soldiers in Northern Ireland in the bill.
It was seen as an easy way to prevent legacy investigations exposing the actions of the army during the Troubles, however, this fell at the first hurdle.
For those of us who grew up in this place in those dark days it certainly seemed like a war zone, but our conflict was never classed as a war.
Given successive British governments claim Northern Ireland as a valued and cherished part of the union, it would difficult to explain why they fought a war against their own citizens.
The bill, despite its controversial nature, is almost certain to pass and is part of a direction of travel for this government that many see as heading only one way.
Theresa May was a remainer but as home secretary argued that Britain should remain within the EU economic bloc but leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
The ECHR, which is separate from the EU institutions, was incorporated into UK law by the Human Rights Act.
The Conservatives pledged to replace the Human Rights Act with a "British Bill of Rights".
Mrs May argued that it was the convention that had caused delays to the extradition of extremist Abu Hamza and almost stopped the deportation of Abu Qatada.
Such a change to legislation would have faced much greater scrutiny in normal times, but is being passed through parliament with minimal opposition as minds are distracted elsewhere by the ongoing pandemic.
Among those interviewed in Once Upon a Time in Iraq is war reporter Dexter Filkins, his book The Forever War is a graphic and disturbing account of the grim reality of the War on Terror, based on his years working the frontline for The New York Times.
His account of covering the war in Iraq and how the rules of engagement ‘were dialled really far back’ make for grim reading, but also could go some way to explaining the thinking behind legislation that will in effect prevent any further legal scrutiny of that unjust war.
