Saturday 28 November 2009

Let's say the war was legal

There is continued news about the Iraq Inquiry so I will follow on from yesterday's blog. Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who at that time was the UK's ambassador to the UN, was questioned about whether we were right to go to war. He said the war was of "questionable legitimacy". I take this to mean that he doesn't know whether the war was legal. Slightly confusingly, he went on to say that the US and the UK had established its legitimacy and this had never been challenged in the courts. I think this means that we think the war was legal but nobody else does. If he is saying this and he is on our side what must our opponents be saying?

All the information that is coming out now was evident even in 2003 to anyone who was willing to do a bit of digging. It will be interesting to see how much difference it will make now that we don't have to dig. Our senses have been made dull by the passage of time and even the thousands who marched against the war will not give the same priority to the inquiry as they did to the war itself.

There must be a feeling in Downing Street that the inquiry will not tarnish Gordon Brown's record. This may be the case but I don't think Tony will be so lucky. If they both get away with it then this will be quite a trick, given that they were both more-or-less equally pro-war.

Let's see.

Change the world.