Iraq war inquiry could rebound on Gordon Brown
Aug 07, 2009
Print this article
The latest Iraq inquiry has got off to a good start. Chairman John Chilcott has already upset his political masters by defying Lord Mandelson and Gordon Brown's requests to hold the inquiry in private. "Clearly he is a man that takes no prisoners," says Trevor Royle in The Sunday Herald.
But what will the inquiry achieve? Lots of leaked information exists to confirm the fact that intelligence documents were sexed up and that then-Prime Minister Tony Blair and then-President George Bush struck a deal at least a year before the "elaborate diplomatic dance that preceded the invasion", says the FT. Yet two previous inquiries into the war failed to hold either to account.
And even if Blair does give evidence in public, and on oath, is he really going to say anything new?, asks Con Coughlin in The Daily Telegraph. "After all, in the final months of his premiership, he gave countless interviews justifying his decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein's despicable regime". We know exactly what we are going to get, says Marina Hyde in The Guardian – "faux self-deprecation and the messianic stuff about doing what he believed to be right (as though that were remotely relevant)".
Indeed, if this inquiry causes any damage it will be to Gordon Brown, says the FT. He has already managed to rile the public with a "cack-handed attempt" to hold the investigation in secret. And in the run up to a general election, a British public that has turned "surly and deeply undeferential" is bound to focus their anger, not on the inquiry's targets, but on those still sitting in office.
FREE - MoneyWeek's daily investment email
Our free daily email, Money Morning, is an informative and enjoyable analysis of what's going on in the markets. Written by our Editor, John Stepek, and guest contributors.
Sign up FREE to Money Morning here.