Blair under fire

Rumsfeld's admissions yesterday that Iraq had perhaps destroyed its WMDs pre-war have ignited a furious response from anti-war MPs in the UK.

Tony Benn, the former Labour minister, told LBC Radio: "I believe the Prime Minister lied to us and lied to us and lied to us. The whole war was built upon falsehood and I think the long-term damage will be to democracy in Britain. If you can't believe what you are told by ministers, the whole democratic process is put at risk. You can't be allowed to get away with telling lies for political purposes."

Alan Simpson, Labour MP for Nottingham South, said MPs "supported war based on a lie". He said: "If it's right Iraq destroyed the weapons prior to the war, then it means Iraq complied with the United Nations resolution 1441."

The former Labour minister Glenda Jackson added: "If the creators of this war are now saying weapons of mass destruction were destroyed before the war began, then all the government ministers who stood on the floor in the House of Commons adamantly speaking of the immediate threat are standing on shaky ground."

Labour rebels are threatening to force Blair to answer for his lies.

Labour rebels threatened to report Mr Blair to the Speaker of the Commons for the cardinal sin of misleading Parliament - and force him to answer emergency questions in the House.

Blair's response? That the occupation forces are too busy providing humanitarian relief to look for WMDs. I know that sounds absurd, so here's the quote:

Our priorities in Iraq are less to do with finding weapons of mass destruction, though that is obviously what a team is charged with doing, and they will do it, and more to do with humanitarian and political reconstruction."

Lies, lies lies. There was no legitimate reason for war, as the entire rationale for war was WMDs. As the great mouthpiece Ari put it:

We have high confidence that they have weapons of mass destruction. That is what this war was about and is all about.

So given the lack of WMDs, this war, then, was about NOTHING.

(Except military bases, oil contracts, breaking OPEC and the Euro, big contracts for Halliburton, etc.)

Posted May 29, 2003 01:29 PM | Comments (106)