Tony Blair, the man whose hobbies include collecting lucrative consultancy fees, middle east contracts and patting himself on the back for making the world a safer place for everyone, except of course those killed, maimed and tortured every day in countries he helped make safer, sat smugly, arrogantly and defiantly in his chair at the Chilcot Cosy Little Chat, boasting that he has no regrets about his decision to back the substance abusing, draft dodging puppet of Dastardly Dick Cheney. Bush wanted to see a war (though not first hand of course) whatever it took - and if that's what Bush wanted, well Blair was going to damn well see he got it. If he could purchase his own ambitions with the blood of British soldiers and innocent Iraqi civilians, then so be it.Blair also informed the word, that because of his decision, the world is now a much safer place. Safer for who? Certainly not the tens of thousands who have been killed and maimed in almost daily terrorist attacks around the world. But Blair believes we should be grateful to him, for making the world what it is today. A world where you can be arrested for taking a photo of a public building, a world where it takes longer to get on a plane than to get to your destination, a world in which prevention of terrorism increasingly invades aspects our lives, stripping away human rights, privacy and even dignity.
With the large number of home grown terrorists running around unchecked by British anti-terror forces, perhaps Blair should have persuaded Bush to invade Britain as well - it would have been a nice change for residents of many British towns to see someone in uniform stopping acts of violence.
Even Frank Sinatra sang "Regrets I have a few" but not Teflon Tony. He has no regrets about the human misery he has helped bring about.
There are however, many who do have regrets. The loved ones of those whose blood was spilled for what was a lie. Those who have returned from Iraq with missing and shattered limbs. The men and women who return with hearts and minds broken by the horror of a war that need not have been, a war that was never going to achieve what Bush and Blair deliberately misled people into believing it would. Like two snake oil salesmen, they sold the world a shoddy package of nothing wrapped up as everything.
For those whose lives have been forever altered by the illegal and immoral invasion, the man with the practiced grin and a battalion of spin doctors and called in favors behind him, offered nothing - not even understanding of their heartache, their ruined lives, the empty places at the dinner table, the dad who can no longer play football with little Billy.
The relatives of those killed and injured in Iraq went to the inquiry hoping for something from Blair. Perhaps many didn't know quite what they wanted to hear, but they wanted something to explain the loss of those whose memory they will forever carry in their hearts.
The man who snuck in through a back door to explain why he put the lives of others on the line, gave them nothing but a renewed sense of betrayal, anger and loss.
Wherever you may be - be safe
Copyright Mike Hitchen Online, Lane Cove, NSW, Australia. All rights reserved
