| From Unity, 6 February 2010 |
Blair’s legacy: regime change from aboveby John Pinkerton“Blair lied, thousands died.” That was the chant outside the London conference centre last Friday when Tony Blair was brought before the Chilcot inquiry. Having been sneaked in through the back door, the Prime Minister who brought the UK into the illegal war on Iraq continued to repeat the lie of weapons of mass destruction.His lengthy prepared answers made it clear that he has no regrets and carries no sense of blame for the hundreds of thousands who died to advance the interests of American imperialism in the oil-rich Middle East. During his six hours of self-justification, Blair was intent on rehearsing his version of history, in which powerful elites decide what is best for the rest of us. He avoided the central question about the inaccuracy of the intelligence dossier on which he based his lies to Parliament about the threat posed by Iraq. “This isn’t about a lie or a conspiracy or a deceit or a deception. It is a decision. And the decision I had to take was, given Saddam’s history . . . could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his weapons programmes . . . it wasn’t right to run that risk.” Bush and he took that decision without the support of the UN and in the face of worldwide opposition. Might is right. Yet what was the real risk? The exhaustive efforts after the invasion to find weapons of mass destruction could turn up nothing. Forced to concede that point, Blair was left with no better justification than his assertion of Saddam’s evil intent. Hardly a basis for regime change through military invasion. Challenged on the bloody aftermath of the invasion, Blair’s response was to shirk responsibility and lay the blame elsewhere—primarily on al-Qaeda and Iran. The tone of his criticism of Iran as the main source of instability in the region was a chilling reminder that the logic behind western military action in the Middle East will not end with Iraq. Closer to home, another of Blair’s attempts at regime change, the Belfast Agreement, is not looking too impressive either. At the time of writing, talks between Sinn Féin and the DUP have still not delivered a deal on policing and justice powers—despite the pressure from the British and Irish governments to move things on. Whilst Sinn Féin seem to be moving to accepting a package of compromises around devolving justice powers, the role of the justice minister, the Irish language, and parading, the “not an inch” mentality of the DUP is much less willing. Trying to cut a deal between two parties whose only shared objective is to hang on to what limited power the British government has allowed them is not easy. Each party is constantly looking over its shoulder to check that it still can deliver its electorate. Rather than broaden democracy, the politics of the agreement are becoming increasingly narrow. |
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