Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Aggressive War

The British Iraq Inquiry chaired by Sir John Chilcot has been generating revisionist arguments over the invasion of Iraq. Some people now claim they were ignorant at that time, or that they were deceived. But in mid-March 2003 it was very clear that arguments for invasion were a sham.

The invasion of Iraq was planned with no clear & present danger, and without multilateral agreement. The governments of Britain and USA knew they were embarking on an illegal war, and key people were communicating this to the wider population. When British MP Robin Cook resigned on 17 March 2003 as Leader of the House of Commons in protest over the planned invasion of Iraq, he delivered a well-reasoned and impassioned speech to Parliament. Cook's speech (which received a standing ovation from both sides of the House) is crystal clear, and condemns the planned war.

Here is an mp3 version of that famous speech:
Robin Cook resigns over Iraq attack plan 2003-03-17.mp3

and a transcript:
Robin Cook resignation speech

This was a mainstream warning by a key insider against unilateralism, bullying and wielding war in doubtful circumstances (Robin Cook had been Foreign Secretary for more than four years under PM Tony Blair). Those who ignored his warnings, and waged illegal war, should be convicted of criminal acts.