War criminals

Fleeting moments
Former British prime minister Tony Blair admitted in his CNN interview that he acted on ‘false intelligence’ reports about WMDs in Iraq. While he apologised for launching British troops in Iraq based on a fallacious report, he justified himself in removing Saddam Hussein.
That, according to him, means he was partly right and partly wrong in joining the US-led invasion. But wasn’t he conspiring to go to war a year before the unfortunate country was invaded?
The official memos made public under the US court orders reveal what the former secretary of state Collin Powell wrote to George Bush on March 28, 2002 – a full year before the invasion of Iraq. The disclosure of the memos has given a deeper insight into Blair’s sinister involvement in Iraq war. Powell wrote to his boss: “On Iraq, Blair will be with us should military operations be necessary…He (Blair) is convinced on two points: the threat is real; and success against Saddam will yield more regional success.”
According to the Daily Mail’s report, Powell assured the president that “the UK will follow our lead in the Middle East”, and that “Blair will be with us” on military action against Iraq. Trusting Blair’s thespian touch of personality, Powell added in the document “that Blair has the presentational skills (theatrics) to make a credible public case on current Iraqi threats to international peace.” To ensure ‘international peace’, Blair readily took on the job at which he was skilled.
Tony Blair didn’t care to inform the UK parliament, not to mention seeking its approval before pledging military support to the US-led invasion. No WMDs had been found in Iraq at the time. Until then, Hans Blix who led the team of UN inspectors to unearth WMDs had only been equivocating about the issue.
Had the official memos not been revealed on court orders and Blair’s villainous role not exposed, would he have shown any contrition over his treacherous role in the Iraq war? Never. Blair well knew there were no WMDs in Iraq when he went on to forge a case for its invasion through his machinations and a dodgy dossier.
A term often used before the run-up to the attack on Iraq was the ‘sexing up’ of the war dossier, which meant fabricating a case for attacking a sovereign country that posed no threat to any of the European countries or the US.
Does Blair realise how much his malevolent role in the Iraq invasion cost the unfortunate Iraqi nation? Does he realise the gravity of his misdeed that unleashed hell on the innocent Iraqi people and turned their peaceful and developed country to ruins?
How will he account for the deaths of 14, 55, 590 – according to the website: www.justforeignpolicy.org – innocent Iraqis, lost in a war in which he was a point man. Don’t we remember Blair hyperactively crisscrossing from one country to another to gather support for his Iraq project – Death and Destruction?
Assuming what Blair says is true and that he was misled by the ‘false intelligence’ report about WMDs, why has he taken so long to apologise? Does he fear that the Sir John Chilcot inquiry report – expected to be published soon – would incriminate him for his role in the destruction of Iraq. And, therefore, the apology?
Moreover, why has Sir John taken six long years to complete his 1000-page inquiry into the UK’s role in Iraq’s destruction? Prime Minister David Cameron would do well to order the inquiry report, costing the British taxpayers 10 million pounds, be published immediately. The Independent, though, seems sceptical about its publication in the near future since the prime minister is under immense pressure to block publication altogether.
However, will Blair and Bush stand trial for their war crimes? Only British parents who lost their sons and daughters in Iraq can force Blair’s trial. Similarly, only American parents whose sons and daughters are buried in the Arlington National Cemetery can force Bush’s trial. And if they don’t, they had better be prepared for more imperial wars.
The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore. Email: pinecity@gmail.com