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An
Extinct Breed
Nadia Barb
The
hunt for the weapons of mass destruction seems to be coming
up empty handed every time. So those of us who had our doubts
about the existence of these WMD and even those who believed
that indeed Saddam Hussein did possess WMD are probably
feeling that we might in fact have been duped by the arguments
put forward by the US and UK. In the Chambers English dictionary,
one of the definitions of a politician is “one who makes
a profession or game of politics”. It looks like some have
taken the meaning literally. Not only do most politicians
speak a language that is meant to appease and pacify the
general populace; it really does not have to be based on
facts or the truth. To put things in perspective, the war
in Iraq seems to have been based on exaggeration, hyperbole,
and blatant lies. Having listened to politicians and even
military personnel in the last few months, my sense of cynicism
and suspicion has increased in leaps and bounds at much
of the speeches and information that have come my way. The
term “An honest politician” is really becoming an oxymoron.
And like many other endangered species, they are now becoming
an extinct breed.
For example, during the war in Iraq, the UK Defence Secretary
Mr. Geoffrey Hoon managed to lose credibility at least in
my eyes by the way he handled or should I say “mishandled”
the news from the war. At one point Mr. Hoon stated on BBC
radio that there was an “uprising” by the people of Basra
against Saddam Hussein but then had to retract this statement
as it was not actually true. He then claimed that the coalition
troops had found chemical suits which “categorically” showed
that Saddam Hussein was in all intents and purposes preparing
to use chemical weapons. This was subsequently contradicted
by Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, Chief of the Defence Staff,
who cautioned against jumping to conclusions!
Actually
what is galling is that it does not even matter these days
whether a politician has manipulated the truth or not, but
whether he has been successful in “getting away with it”.
Throughout the War in Iraq, the former Iraqi Information
Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf was seen on television,
making statements that were patently untrue. Despite the
fact we could hear the sound of shooting and bombs going
off in the background during some of his speeches, he stated
with great confidence that the US and British forces had
not entered Baghdad! Interestingly enough, the self assured
manner in which he delivered his speeches and his total
lack of respect for the truth and outrageous remarks seem
to have landed him with a huge following. A website was
even created that was solely dedicated to the Iraqi Information
Minister or “Comical Ali”
as he is otherwise referred as and its popularity was completely
unexpected. Ironically, the only statement that may actually
hold true might just be the one where the Mr. Sahaf said
it was a "lie" that Iraq still had weapons of
mass destruction.
The whole argument for going to war in Iraq which claimed
that Saddam Hussein possessed these so called weapons of
mass destruction and was a threat to international security
appears to be falling to pieces. When the US and UK found
that they could not sway the UN Security Council nor millions
of people around the world with this argument and justify
war on those grounds, the reason became “regime change”
and of course liberating the Iraqi people.
If it turns out that the entire war in Iraq was in fact
based on a lie, then not only will it have cost thousands
of lives and billions of dollars, it may just prove to have
been a war that was illegal from the outset. Thankfully
more and more people are asking the question whether we
were coerced into entering a war that really was based on
nothing but half truths and manipulation of information.
The foreign affairs select committee in the UK has said
that it is now to investigate the "government's presentation
of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction" (Guardian).
The Committee will try to ascertain whether Downing Street
doctored an intelligence dossier last September which stated
that Iraq could commence a chemical or biological attack
within 45 minutes of the order being given. All we can do
is wait and watch.
Although highly unlikely, let us hope that this will bring
about some sort of change within politicians around the
world and create a new breed that is endowed with honesty
and integrity and a desire for the pursuit of the truth. |