Posted on 03/29/2003 4:50:46 PM PST by Mister Magoo
'BRING OUR TROOPS HOME'
Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has denounced the war in Iraq as "bloody and unecessary" and called on Tony Blair to bring Britain's troops home.
And he warned that Britain and America risked stoking up a "long-term legacy of hatred" for the West across the Arab and Muslim world.
The politician's resignation as Leader of the Commons was the most high-profile political protest against UK involvement in the war.
Mr Cook said President Bush and his defence secretary Donald Rusmsfeld did not appear to know what to do now their hopes that Iraq would swiftly capitulate had proved unfounded.
They appeared to be contemplating laying siege to Baghdad, which would result in massive civilian suffering and many unnecessary deaths, he said.
In the Sunday Mirror, Mr Cook wrote: "I have already had my fill of this bloody and unjust war. I want our troops home and I want them home before more of them are killed."
He attacked Mr Bush for "sitting pretty in the comfort of Camp David" while Allied forces risked death in an "unnecessary and badly planned" war.
"It is easy to show you are resolute when you are not one of the guys in a sandstorm peering around for snipers," he said.
"Nobody should start a war on the assumption that the enemy's army will co-operate. But that is exactly what President Bush has done.
"And now his Marines have reached the outskirts of Baghdad, he does not seem to know what to do next."
Mr Cook also raised concerns that the Iraq campaign could drag on for months and commended the decision to bring back the bodies of slain troops to be buried in Britain.
Last Updated: 00:12 UK, Sunday March 30, 2003
You asked 'if', not 'how'.
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