IRAQ - THE BIGGER ISSUES

Here in the UK, the imminent threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was the most widely used explanation of why we had to go to war.  As Paul Wolfowitz, US Deputy Secretary of Defense explained in a rare moment of candour:

"For reasons that have a lot to do with US government bureaucracy, we settled on the one issue everyone could agree on, which was weapons of mass destruction, as the core reason (for war)".

Now, David Kay, the US official charged with looking for these weapons says: "I don't think they existed". A detailed investigation by the independent Carnegie Endowment came to the same conclusion . And even the US Secretary of State has said that the existence of WMD is an "open question".

By January 2006 Colin Powell was saying "We were wrong"

Yet all along, Tony Blair has insisted that we were in imminent danger from WMD.

We were also told that Saddam was an evil and murderous dictator. Indeed he was, but Britain and the US continue to have friendly relationships with evil and murderous regimes around the world. No-one believes Tony Blair is about to invade Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Zimbabwe and the many other countries with tyrannical and undemocratic rulers.

Indeed, during the 1980s, while he was murdering and gassing his own people, Saddam was an ally of the West. In 1987 and 1988, Tony Blair did not take the opportunity to sign parliamentary Early Day Motions criticizing Saddam's human rights abuses and UK arms exports to Iraq.

Finally, it was said that Saddam had ties with terrorists like Al Qaeda. Given that Saddam was an authoritarian socialist and Bin Laden a Muslim fundamentalist, this always seemed unlikely. Unfortunately, 70% of Americans have been persuaded that Saddam was involved in the 9/11 attacks, even though no credible evidence has been produced.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has now admitted that coalition forces in Iraq have not discovered "any smoking gun (or) concrete evidence" demonstrating ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda. While his allies are rapidly changing their tone Tony Blair refuses to formally admit that there is any room for doubt about the existence of WMD in Iraq.

Our World Our Say believes it is time to call to account the politicians who dragged us into war against the opposition of millions of us.

The War on Iraq - what happens next?

Where is the inquiry into civilian deaths in Iraq?

"Change the channel"  - Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt's advice to Iraqis who see TV images of innocent civilians killed by coalition troops.

The coalition hold no records of the number of civilian deaths in Iraq - Iraq Body Count

Calls are mounting for a full inquiry into the number of civilian deaths in Iraq. A recent authoritative Lancet study estimates the total number of deaths (including military deaths) at more than 100,000. Jack Straw puts civilian deaths at 3,853.

Report on the letter handed into Downing Street, including the signatures of an ex-ambassador to Iraq; calling for an inquiry.

Contact your MP to press the calls for a proper investigation into the number of civilian deaths.

Abuse in Fallujah

The Independent newspaper reports widespread abuse in Fallujah.

Allegations of widespread abuse by US forces in Fallujah, including the killing of unarmed civilians and the targeting of a hospital in an attack, have been made by people who have escaped from the city.

In Iraq, the US eliminates those who dare to count the dead. The US has asked the Guardian newspaper to withdraw a claim that they are eliminating people who dare to count the bodies of the (Iraqi) victims of war.

Impeach Tony Blair

The campaign by a cross party group of MPs to impeach Tony Blair.

To read more about the campaign click here.

To sign the petition calling for his impeachment click here.

- "A Case To Answer" - Report produced in August 2004 by Dr Glen Rangwala and Dan Plesch for Adam Price MP on the potential impeachment of the Prime Minister for High Crimes and Misdemeanours in relation to the invasion of Iraq.

The impeach Bush campaign www.afterdowningstreet.org

Other archived resources about the Iraq crisis

Our World Our Say has compiled a list of the most significant online resources, news articles and reports relevant to the Iraq crisis.

• The Guardian - on the revalations in Philippe Sands book "Lawless World" on the rush to war in Iraq and how the Attorney general warned that the Iraq invasion could be illegal (23/02/05)

• Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispaches - an independent journalists reports and photographs from the crisis in Iraq

• The Independent - on those pro-war MPs who have changed their minds about the crisis(19/10/04)
• The Telegraph - argues that Blair is using British troops to boost President Bush (17/10/04)
• Andrew Rawnsley - on the far-reaching implications of an apology from Tony Blair about Iraq (17/10/04)
• Bryan Bender - on the missing billions auditors can't account for in Iraq (16/10/04)
• Marie Woolf - on whether the Prime Minister ignored advice that the Iraq war was illegal (16/10/04)
• Antonia Juhasz - on how the members of the US administration have made huge financial gains from the Iraq war (14/10/04)

We hope to regularly update this section, but if you have any suggestions for material not included here, please email us.

Download list of British soldiers killed in Iraq.

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