Jonathan Freedland (Guardian Utd): Don't be fooled again

[Jack Rabbit]

From the Guardian Unlimited
Dated Wednesday February 4

Don't be fooled again
Critics of the war must voice their misgivings about the Butler inquiry's terms of reference - right now
By Jonathan Freedland

Where do you even start? Perhaps with the comedy of George Bush demanding "to know the facts" about Iraq's non-existent arsenal of weapons of mass destruction - casting himself as an aggrieved American voter, somehow hoodwinked into the war with Iraq. No doubt we should brace ourselves for Bush pounding his fist on the table, demanding to know "who ordered this goddamned war anyway?" And to think, he could have known all the facts without firing a single shot - if only he had let Hans Blix and his team of UN inspectors finish their work.
Or perhaps we should begin with the hilarious sight of Colin Powell, who exactly a year ago treated the UN security council to a show-and-tell exposé of Saddam's terrifying arsenal, now admitting that, had he known Baghdad had no WMD, he would have had his doubts about going to war. With rather elegant understatement, he concedes it would have changed "the political calculus".
Maybe the right starting point is closer to home, with the alternative comedy of Tony Blair insisting as late as last week there could be no inquiry, no inquiry, no inquiry - until Bush ordered one in Washington and suddenly London saw the entire question in a new light. Now there is to be an inquiry. What was an unnecessary, ludicrous proposal last week when the Tories and Lib Dems demanded it is suddenly a rather good idea now that Mr Bush has smiled upon it.
The government says the trigger was the Senate testimony of Bush's handpicked weapons inspector, David Kay - he who quit as head of the Iraq Survey Group because, he concluded, Iraq's WMD were a mirage. That, says the government, made an inquiry "inevitable". In which case, why was it not signalled as soon as Dr Kay testified last Wednesday? Or even a week earlier when he quit? The truth is that Tony Blair is going into this inquiry the way he went into the war itself: as Tonto to the American Lone Ranger, Mini-Me to George Bush's Dr Evil.

Blair refuses to give up his web of lies. It is long past time for him to step aside.

[T_i_B]

1. Cynical? Us?

This is the 4th WMD-related inquiry and they keep on being cop-outs. The decision of the Lib Dems not to take part looks very ominous. Not to mention the track record of Lord Butler.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1140406,00.html

His record as the former head of the civil service shows that he consistently showed deference to those in power. During the height of the Conservative sleaze scandals of the 1990s, Sir Robin, as he then was, chose to believe the dishonest arms sales minister Jonathan Aitken and attacked journalists who were investigating him.

The nadir of his career, as he was later ruefully to characterise it, came in 1994, when a triumphalist Jonathan Aitken on the government benches waved a letter from Sir Robin, which he claimed exonerated him: "I hope that the house ... will accept both my assurance and the cabinet secretary's assurance and put an end to the hysterical atmosphere of sleaze journalism by the Guardian." The letter said he did not regard Mr Aitken as having lied to him. In fact, Mr Aitken, who later went to prison for perjury, had lied comprehensively to the cabinet secretary about his dealings with Arab arms brokers.

Sir Robin had been asked successively to investigate allegations against Mr Aitken and against the equally dishonest then trade minister, Neil Hamilton. In neither case did he get to the truth.

The only steps Sir Robin took, it was discovered later, were to ask Mr Aitken if the allegations were true. Mr Aitken denied it. Sir Robin, trustingly, showed Aitken a copy of the dismissive draft letter he proposed to send to the Guardian. In it, Sir Robin wrote that the dispute "seems to be a matter of his word against yours".

[Terwilliger]

2. It seems no one is willing to bring down a government

Between Blair and Bush....western civilization could collapse :tinfoilhat: