Iraq!

It appears, watching disaster after tragedy unfold on the news, that Iraq is descending deeper and deeper into anarchy: we have created an unholy and unmitigated mess. The country is riven by sectarian hatred. The land is completely unsafe. No one knows what the future holds. It is worth asking if our politicians, or indeed some of our posters, still harbour any doubts that this war was wrong.

It’s difficult to remember the reasons: the escalation, war and aftermath has dragged on for many years now.

I believe the first reason was the Weapons of Mass Destruction. We were told, in Tony Blair’s speech to the Houses of Parliament, that Iraq claimed to have no WMD, “though no serious intelligence service anywhere in the world believes them.” And yet when asked for evidence to back this up we were given a dodgy dossier - a thesis written by a college student! Hans Blix, the Swedish weapons inspector, asked for more time but the threat was implied to be urgent. Indeed, some may remember the headlines in the Evening Standard – “Brits 45 Minutes from Doom.” Yet, despite the fact this threat was so serious, we were also assured the war would be a cakewalk. Surely someone who says that a nation is a serious threat which can be defeated easily is a fool? Or perhaps it is the opposite. Perhaps it is someone very clever who can read the electorate only too well.

We went into Iraq. No weapons were found.

Next up was the ‘regime change’ card: we went into Iraq to remove a cruel regime. Saddam, we were told by Blair, tortured his people. They were not safe from his cruel and barbaric actions. Can anyone tell me the time-gap between these proclamations and the first photos from Abu-Ghraib? We went in and quickly found a nation that would not – contrary to the protestations of our leaders – accept an occupier. Especially not one which watched as the land and cities were ransacked, yet found enough troops to protect the Oil Embassy. And so, when the people fought back, the Americans and the British resorted to torture and humiliation. Now we have a Home Secretary who believes that the Geneva Conventions are out of date: torture is back on the agenda. I recall protestors being told that, though they were welcome to object to the war, they should remember that at least they had the right to object: but that the Iraqis had such good fortune! And yet Iraqi newspapers are shut down for not focusing on the ‘positives’! And yet Al-Jazeera has been accidentally bombed how many times?

Democracy! Remember that one? Give the people what they want. Except that it quickly became clear that democracy was only good if you vote for what the Western powers want. If you vote in a party which advocates ethnic cleansing, state terrorism and racial discrimination (Israel) you are given a pat on the back. If you vote in a leader who wants to at least try to redistribute wealth (Venezuela) you are on the blacklist. If you vote in a party which has backed you in your struggle for existence, your futile fight for parity (Palestine) you are made a pariah and any funding you had previously is blocked.

We are expected to believe, in a time when fuel is running out and the world is becoming increasingly dependant on the ever-more-restless Middle East, that this war was to set free the Iraqis. Try telling that to the citizens of Basra who are now living under a month-long state of emergency as their city descends into hell. Try telling that to the relatives of the dozens of people killed every single day in this chaos. Try telling that to 12 year old Safa Younis who says she had to pretend to be dead so that US Marines would not shoot her. Seeing her father and five siblings killed in front of her by those in charge of her country was her only cause for concern on that day.

We have created a mess. And who knows what threats are emerging elsewhere as we continue in our state of paralysis? When he was making his last gasp bid for war in the House of Commons, Tony Blair stated that the, “purpose of terrorism lies not just in the violent act itself. It is in producing terror. It sets out to inflame, to divide, to produce consequences which they then use to justify further terror.”

Can anyone disagree that Mr Blair and Mr Bush have completed this job for them?

Can anyone tell me which politicians have been held accountable for this nightmare?