Five years on, and the spin is as thick on the ground as ever. General Petraeus – latest American commander in Iraq, and author of the "surge" policy - blames continuing attacks on the Iranian "Quds" movement. We are told of the ongoing British commitment to the Coalition, whilst our remaining forces sit in isolation in an airbase, awaiting repatriation.
In short, we are no closer to hearing the truth from our governments today, than we were during the build up to this pointless war. Five years on, and British government statements continue to be characterised by distortion, misrepresentation, and downright lies. One would have thought that the powers-that-be would have learnt some lessons by now, but perhaps we expect too much.
Yet this collective mindset of denial amongst the governing class poses fresh dangers. There is a belief by many amongst them that they can literally get away with murder. It would be no surprise to me if the Bush Administration – or a McCain successor – launched another attack, this time on Iran, and possibly through the Americans’ Israeli proxies, with British support.
For the truth is that the leading lights in both the Labour and Conservative parties believe that they have got away with their dirty war on a sovereign state, in defiance of national and international opinion. Blair appears to have walked away from his personal responsibility to a multi-faceted new role, including, improbably, as a Middle East peace envoy.
Don’t laugh. He is also being seriously peddled as a possible President of the European Union. That is a measure of how much of the establishment believe that Iraq as an issue is behind us. All of those who so enthusiastically backed the illegal and immoral attack on Iraq – in politics, media, the forces and business – are happy now to criticise the post-invasion planning (or lack of it), in the vain hope that the dishonest and venal rationale for the invasion itself, can now be glossed over.
Well, it cannot for a variety of reasons, not least which is the possibility of arraigning those responsible for this war of aggression before the international courts. At the very least, if we mouth platitudes about democracy and human rights, there ought to be a practical demonstration of our commitment before the international community. Otherwise, we will rightly be condemned as the hypocrites our leaders have shown themselves to be.
Of course, none of this could come to pass without there first being a full and independent enquiry into why we went to war in Iraq in the first place. There remains vigorous opposition to such an inquiry – Tory calls for one are based on the cynical view that they will not secure a majority for their view. Even if they were to succeed, we can rest assured that the Tories would nobble such an inquiry. After all, the record shows that they were more gung-ho than Blair for war.
The Hutton and Butler inquiries were narrow, controlled inquiries. Their terms of reference ensured that in neither case could they get to the nub of the issue – what had Blair agreed with Bush, and when? What decisions were made to lie to the British parliament and people, to wage an illegal and immoral war? Now is the time to set the record straight.
