'Hold the elections, then get out'; R. Cook on Iraq

[Englander]

Robin Cook
Friday January 14, 2005
The Guardian

The biggest surprise of the White House announcement calling off the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is that there was anyone still out there looking for them. The rest of the planet has known for over a year that there are no WMD to be found in Iraq, and that hunting for them is just as eccentric - and even less interesting - as poring over arcane codes in the hope of unearthing the holy grail.

Nevertheless, we cannot allow the Bush administration to conduct the last rites on the weapons search without reminding Downing Street that this also buries their claim that Iraq was, in the words of the September dossier, "a current and serious threat". A two-year search by 1,000 personnel with a budget of $1bn has found zero threat: no weapons stockpiles; no chemical or biological agents; no nuclear plants; no delivery systems. When Tony Blair was obliged to admit last summer that he could find no weapons, he promised to produce weapons programmes. Now the search has been closed down by Washington without uncovering any such programmes either.

Revealingly, Washington never thought to warn the British of this week's statement. Despite Britain committing a third of its army to the invasion of Iraq, it did not occur to anyone in the White House to pick up the phone and warn the British government in advance of their unilateral decision. Perhaps this latest twist of the knife might finally cure Tony Blair of his delusion that the Bush administration will ever listen to him in return for his loyalty to them.

The immediate pressure for calling off the hunt, as US officials conceded, is the rising danger to any investigator rash enough to venture out of the fortified green zone. The security situation in large parts of Iraq is now so dire that it is the police who often choose to wear masks so that they cannot be recognised, and the insurgents who make no attempt to disguise themselves even in the capital city in broad daylight.

More at;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1390095,00.html



http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,1389434,00.html

[Oggy]

1. I do like Robin Cook

He may never be Prime Minister, but he is a voice of reason. Maybe he is taking over the mantle from the likes of Tony Benn.

[WritersBlock]

3. Me too. He won my respect with his stand on Iraq both before and after

the invasion.

Both the UK and the US could use a few more like him.

(Edited for clarity)

[Xipe Totec]

2. We are sooo screwed n/t

More quotes:

Downing Street has made it clear to our ambassadors to each of these governments that the top priority is to persuade them to change their minds and keep their troops in Iraq. Such lobbying only reinforces in Europe resentment of the Blair government as the lonely and predictable spokesman for George Bush.

(snip)

Tony Blair has already had to accept that he went to war on a monumental blunder over whether Iraq was a threat. He must now confront the equally hard truth that the American-led occupation is not the solution to the insecurity of Iraq but a large part of the problem.

[young_dfler]

4. revolution

We need to start a progressive liberal revolution.
We need to start now. It worked in Sweeden in the 60's.

We need a revolution. All the young'uns and all the old hippies.

Now we need to just need a few more supporters

Join now and e-amil me for the next revolution

[Zuni]

5. Robin Cook is quite a good writer

I am glad to hear from him. I remember when he resigned and it was international news
In Britain, the opposition (even from the same party) don't mince words like the Democrats do. They lay it on straight.