Time to Resign

The last week has seen extraordinary pressure brought to bear on the Prime Minister, as the world finally realises that claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction do not add up. Seven weeks after the Iraqi invasion was declared officially over, there are still no signs of the fabled weapons that were used to justify this illegal attack. While Tony Blair resists calls for an independent inquiry, this may prove to be political suicide. As the non-existence of the weapons of mass destruction becomes increasingly clear, the need for an inquiry will lessen. Instead, calls for Blair's resignation will dominate the British political scene.

Blair's problem is that he is pretty much damned no matter what he does. If there are no weapons of mass destruction, then either he lied to us, or he believed it when he was lied to. If he knowingly lied, he must resign. If it turns out he was lied to, and is guilty only of believing these lies, that might have been survivable. What isn't survivable is how these lies were presented to us. No considered opinion. No public debate. Little evidence of even a private debate behind closed doors. Instead, we were presented with a clear statement from one man - I have seen the evidence, and it is so compelling that there is no need for a debate. Tony Blair publicly stated, repeatedly, that we should trust him. In making that statement, he placed his own credibility firmly at risk. If he was wrong (and all the evidence suggests he was) he must suffer the consequences.

Whether Blair is a liar or gullible is irrelevant. Neither is acceptable for a man in his position of power, especially one who seeks to gather more power to himself, as Blair did when he claimed the decision to go to war to be one for his judgement alone. Now that it has become clear that he was wrong, his refusal to hold an independent inquiry demonstrates that an arrogant and dangerous refusal to admit his mistakes. "Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Without an immediate inquiry, we may be doomed to repeat the mistakes of one man's lack of judgement.

Which leaves one, rather large, question? Are there any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? To some extent, the answer is irrelevant. We did not go to war because Iraq had such weapons - many countries, including Britain, have such weapons. We went to war because, we were told, Iraq had weapons that it was willing and able to use. We were told that there was a clear and present danger to ourselves and others. It is now obvious that this was untrue. If Iraq was willing and able to use chemical or biological weapons within forty-five minutes, they would have been used. History demonstrates that Hussein is perfectly willing to use such weapons for political, ethnic, or military reasons. Its laughable to suggest that he restrained himself when the Americans and British marched into his country, with the clear, stated aim of deposing and probably killing him. Not only were the weapons not available within forty-five minutes, they were clearly not available within the two weeks it took the allies to reach Baghdad.

Hussein was clearly not willing and able to use weapons of mass destruction in defence of his regime. The source of this unwillingness needs to be addressed. Remember, this is a man who was happy to use such weapons to murder thousands of Kurds, who didn't hesitate to use them in his war against Iran. Why wouldn't he use them against Britain and America? In the first Gulf War, he did, admittedly, refrain from using non-conventional weapons. But in that war, he was not threatened. No attempt was made to push into Iraq itself. When Kuwait was surrendered, the Americans withdrew. Provoking the Americans into a larger attack by the use of chemical weapons did not serve Hussein's interests. However, this time was different. With this war, America's repeatedly stated aim was the removal of Hussein from power. This time, the Americans would show no restraint. When there was little Hussein could do to provoke the Americans further, why not use his weapons of mass destruction? Conscience? We know he doesn't have one. Fear? Of what? Death? Loss of power? That was likely anyway. The simplest, most probable explanation is that Hussein simply did not have access to such weapons.

If Hussein not using weapons of mass destruction is not enough to convince you, the fact that they haven't been found yet should. Its now over seven weeks since the war officially ended. Yet, there has been no sign of the alleged weapons. We now face the embarrassing site of pro-war politicians pleading for "more time". That'll be the time denied the weapons inspectors then? Twenty-one weeks of pre-invasion inspections were described as "too long", as clear evidence of "Iraqi non-co-operation". Yet, the Americans have found nothing. They have the advantage of full access to the intelligence sources that were denied to the UN inspectors. They have access to all the results of the UN's earlier inspections. Unknown numbers of Ba'ath party members have already been murdered, yet none of them has come forward to buy their safety in return for leading the Americans to the weapons. It is unbelievable, and every day becomes more so.

The Americans realise how ridiculous this now appears. We are told that weapons of mass destruction was an issue only for "bureaucratic reasons". If this wasn't the real reason, what was? And why weren't we informed of it? Rumsfield states that the weapons "may have been destroyed before the war", a line Blair has recently echoed. We are to believe that an action that Hussein could have taken at any time up to the end of February and averted war, he instead carried out when the Americans were already on their way in. Hussein, we are to believe, waited till the weapons might be of some use to him, and then destroyed them. Why? To embarrass President Bush?

As the lies get more transparent, the truth becomes more clear. There never were any weapons of mass destruction. That was a lie to get us into the war. We need an inquiry into the Iraq crisis. We need to know who has been lying to us, and why. Thousands, millions of us before the war said repeatedly, publicly, en mass that the evidence for non-conventional weapons that had been presented to us was not convincing. It is now clear that the evidence presented to the Prime Minister alone was no more convincing - why else would he wish to keep it so firmly hidden?

But whatever the results of an inquiry may be, it is too late for Mr Blair. Whether cynical liar or gullible fool, he has no place in charge of the country. Time to resign, Prime Minister.

Graham Robinson. 4th June 2003.

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