W hat is surprising after the war
in Iraq is how quickly the lies perpetrated by Bush and Blair to force the war have come to haunt them. In Britain it is a case of moving rapidly from dodgy dossier to dodgy Prime Minister. It is no exaggeration to say that Blair is holed below the water line and slowly sinking.
Hardly a day goes by without some new revelation about how the country was lied to in order to pursue an illegal and unnecessary war:
The Foreign Affairs Select Committee takes evidence from two former cabinet ministers and demands the appearance of Alastair Campbell to explain the misinformation. Leading Blairite Alan Milburn leaves the cabinet to spend more time with his family and Peter Hain considers the tax question.
Even in the US where Bush's position is more secure, the Congressional enquiries are beginning.
In Iraq itself the situation is quite parlous for the occupying powers. Every day there are more US and British troops killed and wounded. The total troop death toll during the peace will soon overtake the number killed during the war itself.
Of course, Bush and Blair talk about this armed opposition being only remnants of the old regime together with their terrorist allies. Al Quaeda is always mentioned although there has never been any proof of any Al Quaeda presence in Iraq whatsoever.
But the occupying powers seem to B
be in the business of creating an effective armed opposition quickly as they can. Take the case of the town of Falluja in Northern Iraq. Falluja was little involved in the war itself and when the officials from the Baathist
..• regime disappeared the town set about governing itself.
All was quiet until the US forces came and occupied the town, taking over the local school for their headquarters. There was a protest, with the townspeople not unreasonably asking the troops to leave the
According to all independent evidence the protest was completely peaceful: but the US troops managed to kill 17 people. Since then Falluja has been under curfew with night-time raids looking for 'remnants and terrorists'. Not only have more Iraqis been killed in the town, but the US forces have begun to suffer casualties. This is a scenario being repeated in many parts of Iraq.
In Baghdad, a city of 5 million people, basic services have still not been resumed. is now being sabotaged. Over the last week several oil pipelines have been blown up.
In the Middle East the road map' to resolve the Palestinian question leads to a complete dead end:
These are the fruits of Bush and Blair's war on terror.
What is more they aim to continue on the same path. Iran and its 'weapons of mass destruction' are now their focus. Sant war movement has faced a ince the end of the war in Iraq the
witch-hunt based on allegations against George Galloway and others. The accusation against Galloway - that he received millions from Saddam Hussein -has been shown to be based on false documents.
He has received an apology from the bringing that organisation into 'disrepute" Galloway was suspended not because of the mythical Saddam millions but because he called into question the legality of the war and further called for the troops not to participate in such a war. At this moment Galloway heads the BBC Radio2 poll for the most honest politician of the year. Increasingly it is Blair who is driven to try to explain and justify his action.
Since the war ended the Stop the War Coalition has continued a twofold campaign. Firstly the defence of Galloway and others who have been attacked; and secondly the Coalition has launched a campaign against the occupation of Iraq
What is striking is that the meetings taking place up and down the country continue to be very well attended. Galloway himself draws hundreds wherever he speaks, but
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Palestine 14 soclalist resistance Summer 2003 Tony Richardson inspects the wreckage of another Israeli onslaught As part of a solidarity campaign in Oxford to develop closer ties with Ramallah on the West Bank, Tony