Aaaargh.

Lord Butler, yesterday:
“Although none of us on the committee doubted or doubt today the prime minister’s and the government’s good faith in concluding that Saddam Hussein had concealed stocks of chemical and biological weapons – that was a view shared by most other countries and indeed by [chief weapons inspector] Dr Hans Blix – the government’s dossier in September 2002 did not make clear that the intelligence underlying those conclusions was very thin.”
Also: “The link between the Iraq regime and the spread of international terrorism was really not one supported by the intelligence.”
Translation: yes, Tony believed it, but the evidence wasn’t really there. And the Iraq – Al Qaeda thing wasn’t there either.
Just like the anti-war left’s been bloody saying all along.
And yet the Butler report, like the Hutton report before it, have somehow become weapons for the pro-war faction. Aaaargh. War with Eastasia, etc.
From Guardian print edition, my favourite:
“We did not of course say that no one was to blame for the shortcomings. At the press conference, I said that no individual was to blame.”
Oh! Silly us for being confused and not challenging all the pro-war pundits who misrepresented your meaning! Such a pity you didn’t feel the need to step up and clarify your position until now, huh?
Pretty much everything the anti-war left said about Iraq has come to pass. The fact that this isn’t recognised just shows how much traction the pro-war caricature of the anti-war position has gained. And it makes me mad. (Cue Twisted Sister riff.*)
*I admit it, when I first saw the video to ‘we’re not gonna take it’, I was scared by it. But won over. Strangely, a career in glam metal didn’t follow, but such are life’s mysteries.