Gloomy Sunday Times opinion piece on Iraq

[Gromit]

Do ABers agree with the follow assessment from some diplomat in an opinion piece in the Sunday Times? "The people of the UK have been led in Iraq into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have beeen tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The reports from Baghdad are belated, insincere and incomplete. Things are far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. We are today not far from disaster."

[fairkatrina]

Yes, I agree with that totally. Iraq has descended into a state of civil war, and the more troops we throw at it the worse we are making it, but we can't withdraw without being totally humiliated and vilified by the UN, who tried to prevent us from invading in the first place, and only eventually consented on the understanding that we sorted the country out afterwards. Saddam Hussein was a terrible tyrant, but the Iraquis were better off under him, which only demonstrates how badly we have messed up. The religious divide in the country is only going to deepen, and we lack the understanding to sort it out. Brute force is not going to solve the problems we have created, but we are now in a position where rational discussion and compromise is impossible. There is no easy way out of this suitation for any of us.

[kwicky]

Why did the US and UK not listen to Hans Blix before the start of the invasion? He had the weapons inspection under control!

Diplomatic overtures were being made by other countries including Russia to defuse the situation, and which were succeeding, but were overuled because the real reason was regime change. Blair knew about this but failed to influence Bush for a peaceful settlement. Now his legacy has been tarred with the same brush and the history books will condemn them both for this.

[suffragette]

There was an interesting programme shown recently regarding the success and development of the Kurdish region of Iraq, which has benefitted from a 'no-fly' zone since the first Gulf War. I would hate to see these wonderful people betrayed by the west again. There are 30 million Kurds in the world and they still do not have their own country. I hope we remember our obligations to them and continue to support them, even if the US and Britain remove troops from the rest of Iraq.

[Gromit]

Many thanks fairkatrina, kwicky and suffragette to taking the time to reply and your excellent answers.

Let me reveal that the diplomat author of the piece was one T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia) while working for the Foriegn Office. The article was published in the Sunday Times in August 1920, and he used the word Mesopotania instead of Iraq, but the rest is an accurate quote.

Just shows how nothing changes.