Patrick Coburn, whom I’m about to follow on Ian Master’s radio show on KPFK, writes that Tony Blair is more incompetent than dishonest. Examples: he didn’t know toppling Saddam Hussein would benefit Iran’s government. He didn’t know the occupation of Iraq would fail. He didn’t know Zarqawi went to Kurdistan and does not constitute a link between Iraq and 9-11. He didn’t know the Americans were just as incompetent as himself.
But we know that Blair agreed with Bush to attack Iraq and to lie about it. We know he kept that decision quiet and lied about it. We know he lied about the WMDs and the alleged 45-minute threat. And we know that he helped launch a war of aggression on the basis of those lies, which was illegal quite regardless of whether they were lies, truths, or incompetent statements.
Blair didn’t necessarily CARE whether Iran benefitted or whether the occupation would fail or how many people would die (and if you don’t care how many people die, who’s to say the occupation failed?) And who can possibly imagine that Blair is still trying to tie Iraq to 9-11 HONESTLY but incompetently? You’ve got to be kidding me.