The Power Of Spin vs The Truth Of War
Politicians have become cut off from the real world, remote from everyday truths: reality seems variant upon the words of spin doctors so that it becomes impossible to know what is truth and what is fiction. The ongoing Chilcot enquiry into the Iraq War however continues to show what happens when the power of spin comes into conflict with the brutal truth of war.
When Britain went to war in Iraq in 2003, in support of their United States allies, they were doing so in opposition to both international disquiet and vehement protests from the public. Faced with this public outrage the leading politicians of the day, in particular Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, needed to show that a declaration of war was unavoidable if Britain was to remain safe from a real and imminent threat from Iraq. The way that Blair and his power brokers did this has become increasingly controversial and is now being tested in front of a public tribunal that could destroy the reputation of both Blair and the current PM, Gordon Brown.
In the months leading up to the war it seemed to many that Blair was being led to an inevitability of conflict by his close friend, the American President George W Bush. People on both sides of the political divide were growing wary at Blair’s increasingly jingoistic stance and it seemed that he was waiting for a chance, any chance, to create a scenario where conflict could not be avoided.
In September 2002 Tony Blair released the now infamous statement that gave the green light to war: Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that could be launched against the United Kingdom within 45 minutes.
This report provoked a media frenzy and popular opinion turned in favour of war. As the war progressed and these ’weapons of mass destruction’ remained illusive the talk turned to the need for ’regime change’ within Iraq. Seven years later, the regime change has happened and Sadam lies dead along with thousands of soldiers and civilians. Tensions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria are still at fever pitch and there is the daily threat of suicide bombings and other terrorist atrocities. There is no end in sight to the presence of Western troops in the Middle East.
It is against this backdrop that the Chilcott enquiry is attempting to discern the truth behind the reason to go to war. The evidence itself shows that there were no weapons of mass destruction, that there was no 45-minute threat and that the invasion of Iraq was illegal under international law and yet a succession of political heavyweights have given evidence in unrepentant fashion, sticking firmly with discredited spin and aiming to provide obfuscation rather than clarity.
The truth of the matter seems to me to lie in the old adage that ’power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. Tony Blair was a popular and successful Prime Minister but he did not have the benchmark event in his Premiership that would make his mark on history. It may be that he was almost jealous of the role that Margaret Thatcher had played in winning the Falkland’s War for Britain. Blair wanted a Falklands of his own and as his power grew so did his ego. With George Bush jr fired by a desire to surpass the achievements of his father it was inevitable that these two power hungry politicians would join forces at some point.
Less than a decade after the dreadful war in Iraq, events are coming back to haunt Blair and it must be assumed that Bush too will eventually have to face judgement on his role in a war that saw countless lives lost for no purpose than to illustrate the deadly power of political spin.
Before I go, I am aiming to sort out something for my mother for her Birthday. When I was talking with her the other day she said that she would like a new batch of running accessories . Anyone know of a reliable place to get them?