TUTU IS WRONG

ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU has called for Tony Blair and George Bush to be hauled before the international criminal court in the Hague on war crimes charges. These ‘crimes’ were supposed to have occurred as part and parcel of the Iraq war in 2003. Tutu’s charge is that they lied about weapons of mass destruction (WMD), on which premise the whole  war was fought.

            The old boy argues that Bush and Blair; "fabricated the grounds [the WMD] to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now stand – with the spectre of Syria and Iran before us"; which they deny, and several independent enquiries since tend to agree with them.

            Tutu should think about what he writes (preferably before he writes it). He now blames the current state of the Arab world, on Bush and Blair’s decision to wage war against the Saddam regime in Iraq.

            First of all, it was Osama bin-Laden who should be to blame; if any single individual is to be to blame for what Tutu describes as ‘…the spectre of Syria and Iran before us’. For it was he who orchestrated the attacks on the world Trade Centre in New York on 9/11. He it was who incurred the wrath of America for so doing, and rightly so. For if you remember bishop, 3,000 people died on that fateful day.

            This led to NATOs engagement in Afghanistan from where al-Qaeda were operating;  followed, in 2003, by America’s determination to rid the planet of Saddam Hussein, who the West had been pussy-footing around with for several years. During which time Bill Clinton promised much but delivered very little. Economic sanctions did not work, and the feeble no-fly zone was ineffective.

            Saddam cared little for the damage the sanctions were doing to his people – it was, you will remember Bishop, that it was those who think like you, who demanded an end to sanctions on the grounds that 100,000s of innocent Iraqi civilians were dying because of Clinton’s sanctions.

            Saddam Hussein had been responsible for the murder of thousands of  Kurds - killed by chemical weapons. Thousands of marsh Arabs were also either killed or driven from their unique environment in the south of the country. He also, as orchestrator of his country’s gangsterism, killed hundreds of thousands more Iraqi’s during his evil tenure.

YET THE BISHOP seeks Bush and Blair’s appearance at the international courts of justice! The spectre of Syria and Iran before us (as he puts it), is not due to Bush and Blair, but rather, in Syria’s case, to the Arab Spring, which no doubt  both Blair and Bush would gladly accept responsibility for.

            In Iran’s case however, you have to go back in history, not very far, but to the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1979, and his replacement by Ayatollah Khomeini, who had been given sanctuary by France.         

            The Iranian Islamist revolution came 24 years too early to be blamed on Bush and Blair. For it was this singular event that has moulded events in Iran ever since. The nuclear weapons programme that Iran to this day seeks to deny it has, will not be put in place because of Bush or Blair. It will be put in place, firstly, to give Iran its hegemony over the Middle east and the Arab world – and in order to advance such domination; they continually threaten Israel Jews with their expulsion from the region.

            Whatever nation succeeds in driving the Jew from the Middle East will be crowned victor and defender of the Islamic faith; such is the mentality of the Arab nations that surround the state of Israel.         Yet Israel is still expected to do nothing about the fate they so easily foresee – until, that is,  after president Obama is re-elected as president in November – promises, promises.

           

ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU knows not what he does (to paraphrase Christ). He lacks an understanding of events, as all of those blinded by prejudice usually do. He charges Bush and Blair. Fair enough. But as Blair implies by his repost; in a free society, comment is free, and Desmond Tutu’s views are, if not new, then still remain free.

            I have no love for Tony Blair. He did great things for the Labour Party regarding its much needed reform. His evisceration of, for instance, Clause IV, was an awakening that today the party regrets having been cajoled into getting rid of but still remains the greatest service a leader could do for a party that sought governance; which Blair achieved.

            Tutu is no fool; but at times he seems to act like one. I fear this is such a time. To call for the prosecution of Bush and Blair as war criminals, is comparable to Angela Merkle calling for Winston Churchill to be regarded in the same vein as Hitler.

            Neither Bush nor Blair are responsible for the current state of the Arab world; Mubarak, Assad and Gaddafi, are responsible for the unfolding events known as the Arab Spring.

            When Bush and Blair decided to rid that part of the world of Saddam Hussein; they did so knowing that hundreds of thousands of the Iraqi people had been killed directly by Saddam; and this ghastly business would have continued if the archbishop had is way.

            Archbishop Tutu’s demands will be ignored out of respect for his efforts against apartheid in South Africa. But there are limits, and Tutu is in danger of overstepping them. He is much respected in the West; but his comments on Bush and Blair’s ‘criminality’ will meet with little support, and lower his own reputation in the world.