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January 27, 2004
I've just rolled into Adelaide after 3 days at the beach. The endless summer may continue, but it's the end of the holidays for many. Opening the newspapers this morning I noticed this in response to this.
It's a big black hole we have here. (link courtesy of Juan Cole). A hole opened up by the way our politicians used intelligence as an ideological weapon, rather than to inform a full debate on vital public issues. Their trick is to filter the available intelligence to build a worst-case scenario. The result? A corrupted intelligence process is in place.
Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, calls the black hole an "open question" and immediately starts talking about intentions. First it was weapons, then it's programs (plans and offices) now it is intentions.
It's called back pedalling under pressure, as it becomes evident that Powell did his bit to help the Bush administration by building a bogus case before the U.N. However, in Britain Tony Blair still appears to be saying that 'this lad is not for turning.'
In Australia Alexander Downer, Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister, repeats the Powell line about intention, then drops in "truth" and time will tell. Honestly, it's a comedy routine:
Bill Leak
Why not admit the justification for the Iraq war was a matter of false pretences and mass deception. A noble lie if you want to put a Platonic spin on it.
What Howard does not do is confront the central issue: can international inspections provide for security against a regime intent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction. John Howard's core argument, repeated that of US hawks such as Dick Cheney: preventive war was justified because UN inspections not only had failed, but could never be relied upon to succeed.
The hawks were plain wrong on Iraq. As David Kay,, who led the American effort to find banned weapons in Iraq, said after stepping down from his post: Iraq had no stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons at the start of the war last year. So the hawks duck and weave.
Howard continues to evade the core issue whilst laying all the responsibility on the [US, UK & Australian] intelligence services so as to protect his government.
It's called doing the Tampa.
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No such thing as a noble lie - with our without Plato. Just lies (funny how the Bush camp nevertheless loves pointing out to 'lies' told by Dean etc).
Alan at http://southerlybuster.blogspot.com/2004_01_25_southerlybuster_archive.html#107515513261626015
also points to HRW report which indicates how thin the humanitarian argument is as well. Much as it's good to be rid of Hussein, I can think of a few despots I would have targetted well before him.