Honorable Deception Or Shameful Lies?

Accusations of deception are mounting both sides of the Atlantic as both President Bush and Prime Minster Blair defend the war against Iraq

How much difference a month makes in politics. Back in the middle of May, George Bush and Tony Blair were riding high in the opinion polls and were widely regarded as steadfast and successful leaders, having thrown out the dreaded Saddam while killing a minimum of Iraqi civilians. Democracy could not be far behind and Israel and the Palestinians would soon make peace as well.

Today, this heroic tableau has darkened almost beyond recognition, besmirched daily by damaging press leaks and accusations by disloyal colleagues. Both the US Congress and the British Parliament have begin hearings to determine whether they were lied to and rushed prematurely into war.

Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan - the ranking opposition member of the influential Senate Armed Services Committee - is leading the charge in Congress. Levin contends that the CIA deliberately lied to UN weapons inspectors and also withheld information in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in order to discredit Hans Blix's efforts. The huge question that remains is whether President Bush or his advisors ordered the CIA to do so.

In London, Tony Blair is in even deeper trouble with both the public at large and his own ruling Labour Party. Blair's popularity has plummeted in recent weeks as two former cabinet ministers, Robin Cook and Clair Short, have repeatedly accused the British government of deceiving the public.

Most damaging of all are the accusations made by Ms. Short, the former Secretary of State for International Development. She contends that by September 24 last year, six months before the war began, "senior people in the system said to me that a date had been fixed (for war to begin)." In other words, a secret date had been set to go to war against Saddam no matter what the UN inspectors found in the meantime.

Ms. Short's allegation that Tony Blair engaged in "honorable deception" in order to fight a necessary war without sufficient evidence will not likely fade away soon. Both press and public are now counting the cost of the military occupation in Iraq. If something goes badly wrong, the US president and British prime minister look likely to be blamed personally.