Weapons of Mass Deception

Why did we attack Iraq? Tony Blair gave various reasons.

Yet his main reason when persuading MPs to vote for war was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and posed an immediate threat to international security.

I was not persuaded that Iraq posed such a threat, and voted against the war. For no credible evidence of that threat was produced before the war.

So would I change my mind if evidence of WMD is found now, afterwards?

No, because I would still need to see evidence of the threat. It is extremely difficult to believe that Saddam was a threat to international security when we went to war, even if he did have WMD.

Why? Because the alternative policy to war - containment of Iraq - was working, and working well.

The UN Weapons Inspectors were crawling over Iraq. Spy satellites were trained on every nook and cranny. There was simply no way Iraq posed a threat when we went to war.

Of course, we all rejoice in the overthrow of Saddam. And we would rejoice in the overthrow of Mugabe, the regime in China, the junta in Burma and other appalling governments across the world.

But the Iraq war was not fought for human rights. Perhaps it should have been. But it wasn't. Tony Blair must be held to account by MPs for what he said.