The newly released e mails on the confection of the dossier justifying the Iraq war presented to Parliament by the Leader of the Labour party and prime minister, Blair, serve more than one purpose. Certainly they demonstrate that the dossier offered as justification for war is a tissue of lies.
As a commenter, spagan, notes in today's Herald, however:
'The spies had doubts.
The SNP had doubts.
The Liberals had doubts.
Obama had doubts.
The Pope had doubts.
Nelson Mandela had doubts.
The UK population had doubts.
The Forces had doubts.
Our European allies had doubts.
The UN had doubts.
Virtually every thinking human on the planet had doubts.'
So why did such widespread doubts not occur to members of Parliament who make up that long roll of shame of those who voted with the Labour government? The evidence that the Labour government lied to the House is being put forward as an excuse for those votes. The argument 'we were lied to' and the evidence for this will be put forward ever more strongly to try to justify that failure to doubt.
No-one believes that they did not know the Labour government was lying.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
6 comments:
They were too busy collecting expenses and benefits to care about anything else. Truth and national interest were not relevant to their votes. They don't even read the bills before voting as directed. We need a prouder Pride and crueller Cromwell to purge this Parliament.
Labour certainly lied the lying lies of liers but are you sure that " Obama had doubts ". Wasn't he in Hawaii at the time ?
You can have doubts and still walk through the 'yes' lobby. Had I been in Parliament, with the information available to me at the time I would have voted for going to war. It would have been the wrong call, but it would have been a judgement call.
I had doubts, but the threat as presented was sufficient to allay most of them. There is an expectation that the Government will be honest to the House, and they ought to be brought to bear for failing to meet this expectation.
They have so many who have behaved so badly in their troughing that all of them are tarred, Raven. But some did vote that they didn't believe, and against the government. Certainly Holborn and St Pancras Frank Dobson was there and so was Kenneth Clarke; the list of the truly honourable is in Hansard.
Stu's point has very dark undertones. If it is true that many genuinely had doubts then the lying went much further than the published dossier. There are myriad communication channels within he body politic, some of which have been regarded as sacrosanct in terms of truth-telling up to then. If there were real doubts, it must be the case that those channels were fouled by the Labour government.
The likelihood of this is enhanced by the repellent commitment by the current regime, and most particularly Brown, to the ideology that only the regime is the government. Opposition, Constitution, Rule of Law are historical fripperies to be dealt with ad hoc and abolished formally where necessary.
I had doubts. And I knew that Blair was a habitual liar.
But I do remember thinking that, liar or not, he would not lie on a matter such as whether the country should go to war. No Prime Minister would, surely? No Prime Minister could, surely?
Surely?
So, I reluctantly decided that I kind of supported the war.
And that is one of the reasons I am so deeply angry with New Labour.
It is astonishing to have gone to war on a litany of lies, Patently. The lies must have been at every level and repeated over and over again, or else those who expressed belief by voting with the government must have been so deeply cynical and immoral that there is no hope for our democracy.
Something might be learned from those who refused to go along with the lies if they set out their reasons for refusal. I shall go and look up the debate.
Post a Comment