The First Casualty Of This War Is Common Sense

Mark Steel, The Independent, 22 March 2003

I suppose Clare Short thinks she can get across her point of view more effectively by staying in the Cabinet. When civilian deaths go over 10,000, she'll give that Tony Blair such a look.

She seems to have convinced herself that she has to be part of a government that bombs Iraq, as without her they couldn't rebuild Iraq. That will be a comfort if there's a repeat of the incident in 1991, when 500 women and children were incinerated by a cruise missile in a Baghdad bomb shelter.

As mothers reach out to touch their dying children they'll be thinking, "Thank God Clare's still in the Cabinet, so at least this site can be converted into a pedestrian precinct." If only Bin Laden had thought of this excuse. He could have said to Bush, "I know I've knocked your towers over, but I promise I'll help to rebuild them," and the two of them would now be the best of friends.

Sadly, a glance at previous US invasions suggests their promise of rebuilding might not be entirely believable. Because, to take the odd example at random, Nicaragua, Chile, Guatemala, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Grenada, Laos, and Somalia all seemed to miss out on this glorious regeneration scheme after the American military ripped them apart.

They promise long-term commitment, have their way, then never phone, never write, you're just another notch on the Statue of Liberty. Or maybe the US government has the usual problems with builders. Someone in the White House rings up the firm they gave the job to, but every day they're told, "Alright mate, I had Somalia down for Tuesday, but I had a van break down on me."

To be fair to Clare Short, it's not just her who's tried to justify support for this war with arguments that wouldn't even be put by the mentally challenged. Peter Hain was one of several ministers who claimed the French made the war inevitable, by voting against the war.

Similarly, I'm one of millions that should apologise for putting Margaret Thatcher into power by voting against her, and making the Cheeky Girls Number One by not buying their record. Hain went on to say, on Radio 5 on Tuesday, "The French have decided, by their veto, to not talk when the talk making war with their veto." John Prescott must have thought, "At last – someone who speaks my language."

Then came the claim that no country was going to bother voting for the UN resolution once they knew France was voting against. Because that's the way voting works – once one person has made their mind up, everyone else automatically votes the same way. Especially when it's the French. What hope has a beleaguered nation like America got when faced with the mighty French?

True, Angola was threatened with crippling sanctions by the US if it voted the wrong way, just as Yemen once lost $700m in aid for a similar reason. But this counts for nothing next to the threats of the French, who could impose an export ban on black-and-white films or philosophical novels that could leave a country like Bulgaria in ruins.

If a weapons inspector reported no weapons, this was proof the weapons were being hidden. Maybe the police will take up this method. They'll burst through your door, rip up the floorboards and go "Absolutely nothing. That proves he's got the diamonds." The war will liberate the Kurds, making it essential to assure Turkey they won't be criticised for attacking Kurds.

New evidence on Saddam's weapons has turned out to be an old student thesis. We've had the suddenly discovered "link between Saddam and Bin Laden". There was at least some truth in this, as there is one link – both only got to power through being armed and financed by the US in the first place.

Now they insist that we must support the safety of British troops invading Baghdad, by dropping opposition to them invading Baghdad. So if British troops are killed, it will be the fault of people who didn't want the troops to go.

There is a logic to all this, which is America's vision of a post-Cold-War world, in which every region of importance is ruled by those who are compliant to America. Which is why every protest against this war remains crucial. Even if it doesn't stop this war, it puts the brakes on them for the next one. And anyone who thinks protest makes no difference should imagine how many of those MPs would have opposed Blair if none had taken place.

No wonder that in trying to argue all this as valid, a once-articulate and principled character like Peter Hain has become a gibbering moron. They might as well put my two-year-old daughter on the radio to defend their case. So Dimbleby would say "Robin Cook, it's been put to you that 'Cat – there's a cat. Cat. Cat. Miaow. I want watch Barney.' How do you respond to that?"