We cannot vote Labour(Brit Left to abandon Blair over Iraq?)(Barf Alert)

The Guardian (UK) ^ | February 21, 2005 | Gary Younge

[The Loan Arranger]

The closest the Bush administration ever got to expressing regret for invading Iraq on false pretenses was a comment from the former US secretary of state, Colin Powell. "The absence of a stockpile changes the political calculus," he said. "It changes the answer you get." Assuming that President George Bush's question was "Colin, what pretext should we adopt for bombing a sovereign, oil-rich nation so that we can steal its resources and humiliate its people", then Powell may have a point. Coming from Bush, the political representative of global capital, armed to the teeth and unfettered by international law, this would be a reasonable line of questioning. It is not to the tastes of most of the international community. But it is in keeping with the traditions that give his party and his platform meaning. From Tony Blair, however, one might have expected something different. As the political representative of a movement founded on the principles of international solidarity and equality, a Labour leader might have chosen a different path. Sadly, Blair's political calculus was faulty long before the first shot was fired. He decided that since the US was hellbent on having a fight and would undoubtedly win, the best thing Britain could do was not try to stop it but offer to hold its coat. He calculated that the security council would authorise the invasion; that the invaders would be greeted warmly; that they would find weapons of mass destruction; that all military opposition would be crushed quickly; and that he would emerge unambiguously victorious.

In whatever mathematical model employed, he forgot one crucial component - principle. With hindsight we can see just how much each bad decision would amplify that basic error. In crude, strategic terms he might have been proven right at any stage.

[RockinRight]

Baaaaaaarrrfff...

[AmishDude]

Didn't a whole bunch of parties get started up for the EU elections? I know the UKIP wouldn't be to their liking, but still...

[Josef1235]

Thanks for posting.

Tony Blair ROCKS!

[pau1f0rd]

It's always possible that the Left will turn to the Liberal Democrats, but the chances are they will vote Labour because that would be better (for them) than having the Tories back in.

[joedelta]

I really can't stand to read the Guardian. How they can stuff so much drivel into an article... But this...

The closest the Bush administration ever got to expressing regret for invading Iraq on false pretenses was a comment from the former US secretary of state, Colin Powell. "The absence of a stockpile changes the political calculus," he said.

False pretenses? The CIA said Saddam had WMD, this is true. However, so did Brit intel. So did frog intel. So did German intel. So did Russian intel. Every member of the Security Council had the opportunity to offer intel that Saddam had no WMD. Did any? No. EVERY member of the Security Council voted for 1441, recognizing Saddam had WMD. So, where, pray tell, were the false pretenses? That would imply that the US intentionally misled. How could we have done that when everyone's intel agreed?

[Jason Kauppinen]

"...unfettered by international law,"

There's no such thing as international law. There are international _treaties_, but these are not laws.

[joedelta]

Now you are making my mistake- attempting to apply logic to anything the left says or does.

[GunRunner]

The Labour party has done some good things. Investment in health and education, lowering the age of consent for gay men...

What the...?

That very well may be the sickest thing I've ever read.

[Patti_ORiley]

Those poor misguided Brits -- I shall write a letter to each and every one of them instructing whom they should cast their vote for.

[section9]

But you see, this is how Europe thinks. Even Tory Europe. Gary Younge is far more representative of the Continent and of England that he realizes. Most Britons would rather have left Saddam in power.

Be under no illusions. We are simply marking time: our friendship with the Europeans is a thing of the past. When they cannot see that a fight for someone else's freedom is the same fight as for that of their own, then the ghosts of Chamberlain, Deladier, and Petain walk the earth. The Europeans hold us in less regard than they do the Islamic Fascists. They do this because they are not afraid of us; they are afraid of the Islamic Fascists.

Europe is a land of the living Dead. Period.

Be Seeing You,

Chris