Wednesday, March 05, 2003

Let there be no mistake, Bush, Blair and Howard want a war no matter what. Whilst Saddam is allowing weapons inspectors and is destroying the raft of V2s and Doodlebugs he is doing it grudgingly, circuitously and with a maximum of procrastination.

None of this compliance so far is to our satisfaction cries George. Iraq must be bombed.

In the great bastions of democracy over which the "Triumvirate of Good" reign there are legal systems and parliamentary procedures ... due process.

In the courts of these three lands when people are charged with crimes they are assumed innocent until proven guilty. The prosecutors mount cases against the alleged felons and have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they are guilty as charged.

People charged with crimes mount their defence. Their lawyers use every convoluted trick in the book to prove their innocence. Objections to the prosecution's line of questioning abound. Evidence is sought to be struck out. Witnesses are challenged. Arcane legal technicalities and precedents are dredged up from century old cases. The alleged felon cannnot incriminate herself/himself/itself/will self. In the USA the 5th amendment goes into overdrive.

In the respective parliaments, points of order ar taken, issues undergo the scrutiny of interminable parliamentary committees, votes are taken ad nauseum and filibustering is a finely honed art. Members fulminate against perceived conflicts of interest. Transparency through the looking glass is demanded. Election promises are ex post facto designated as "core promises" and "non core promises" ... "ones we'll keep, perhaps" and "the ones you sillyarsed electors should have realised we had no intention of even looking at".

These legal and parliamentary procedures may seem tedious and farcical, BUT they are (allegedly) adhered to and are lauded as the foundations of well functioning just democratic states. Our "Triumvirate of Good" do doorstops and provide photo opportunities to broadcast the Godly virtues of these processes and would go to the barricades to defend them.

When Saddam uses these very processes to keep himself power and to stave off the bombing of Iraq he is "crawfishing", "stiffing the U.N." and lying.

Again a statement of the bleeding obvious. Saddam is turd who ought retire to Mustique and drink Pina Coladas in the sunset, but the process by which he is convinced to go down to the "Sunnier Climes Travel Agency" is flawed, hypocritical and (to state another obvious) dangerous.