[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Enough of his excuses: Blair must be impeached over Iraq
- From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2006 09:19:14 +0100
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**http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1682807,00.html
Enough of his excuses: Blair must be impeached over Iraq
The only way parliament can regain the trust of disaffected voters is to admit
that it was wrong to support the war
Michael Rose
Tuesday January 10, 2006
The Guardian
Wars are won when the people, government and army work together for a common
cause in which they genuinely believe. Whereas the people may be initially
uncertain about military intervention, politicians will often be the strongest
advocates - blinded by the imperatives of their political views. It will
invariably be military commanders who are most cautious about using force - for
they understand better than most the consequences of engaging in war.
Although in a true democracy they must remain subordinate to their political
masters, they have a clear responsibility to point out when political
strategies are flawed or inadequately resourced. Since they might also have to
ask their soldiers to sacrifice their lives, they must be assured that a war is
just, legal and the last resort available. Yet three years ago this country was
somehow led by the prime minister into war in Iraq where few, if any, of these
requirements were met.
Most importantly a clear justification for the war in Iraq was never
sufficiently made by Tony Blair - for the intelligence he presented was always
embarrassingly patchy and inconsistent. What is more, his unequivocal statement
to the House of Commons that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass
destruction that could be used within 45 minutes was made without being
properly validated - for it was decided in Washington and London to launch the
invasion of Iraq early, on the basis of the flimsy evidence available. This was
done without asking the UN weapons inspectors, who were actually on the ground
in Iraq, to investigate this allegation. Ultimately, as the inspectors
suspected and as we now all know, it turned out that there were no such
weapons. Britain had been led into war on false pretences. It was a war that
was to unleash untold suffering on the Iraqi people and cause grave damage to
the west's prospects in the wider war against global terror.
Nevertheless, today the prime minister seeks to persuade the world that the war
was justifiable because Saddam Hussein was toppled and there now exists in Iraq
a slender hope of democracy. The Iraqi elections are a creditable achievement
by the coalition forces. But it must be remembered that a general election was
previously held in Iraq in 1956, and within two years the country had fallen
under military rule. Without adequate security and the necessary democratic
institutions in place, there are absolutely no long-term guarantees that
democracy will endure.
Before the invasion, regime change was never cited as a reason for going to
war. Indeed, Mr Blair insisted that regime change was not, nor ever could be, a
reason for going to war. Had such a justification been fully debated in
parliament, it is exceedingly unlikely that the necessary political support
would have been forthcoming. It was the apparent need to defend ourselves
against a dire threat - so vividly described by Mr Blair in the Commons - that
finally won the political argument.
During the build-up to war and since, most of the electorate of this country
have consistently opposed the decision to invade. People have seen their
political wishes ignored for reasons now proved false. But there has been no
attempt in parliament to call Mr Blair personally to account for what has
transpired to be a blunder of enormous strategic significance. It should come
as no surprise therefore that so many of this country's voters have turned
their backs on a democratic system they feel has so little credibility and is
so unresponsive.
One obvious way of re-engaging these disaffected voters would be for parliament
to accept that it wrongly supported the war - but only because it believed what
Mr Blair told them. Now it is clear that parliament was misled by Mr Blair,
either wittingly or unwittingly, parliament should also call on him for a full
explanation as to why he went to war. It is not a sufficient excuse for Mr
Blair to say that he acted in good faith and that his decisions were based on
the intelligence he had been given. For it is the clear responsibility of
people in his position to test intelligence. No intelligence can ever be taken
at face value. Indeed it is negligent so to do.
Parliament should therefore ascertain how far the prime minister did evaluate
intelligence regarding WMD and how he assessed the reliability of the many
sources that provided that intelligence. It should ask him what corroborating
evidence there was for his specific statement about WMD - and why more use was
not made of the UN inspectors on the ground in Iraq to test the validity of
that statement. It should inquire just how much he discounted the mass of
intelligence that came in from the Iraqi National Congress - a body that had a
vested interest in removing Saddam from power. The list of possible questions
is huge and would no doubt be usefully expanded during any hearings.
Mr Blair is an able barrister who should relish the opportunity to put his side
of the case. No one can undo the decision to go to war. But the impeachment of
Mr Blair is now something I believe must happen if we are to rekindle interest
in the democratic process.
· General Sir Michael Rose was adjutant general of the British army and
commander of the UN protection force in Bosnia
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