What the Daily Mail says
A slightly unusual one this as I've left my copy of the Daily Mail in Cambridge, so I will have to write it from memory.It concerns that dreadful man, Simon 'Smoking cannabis is an afront to society like throwing acid in someone's face' Heffer. His column today, which is online if you feel like paying £2, concerns the taking of two French hostages in Iraq. Astonishingly Heffer says things like 'now the French realise they are in this war too' and that hopefully they will wake up to the terrorist threat.
Excuse me? France has about the longest history in the western world from suffering from Islamic-related terorrism including nearly suffering from a 9/11 style incident seven years before 9/11.
Of course what this ridiculous man means is that France did not support the war against Iraq. For readers who have been in a coma for the last three years, and can't quite see the point, let me explain.
The argument goes something like this. Our leaders told us that Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq, had banned WMDs. Thus an invasion was required to stop him blowing us all up. When the invasion took place and there were no WMDs, it wasn't their fault, or their cheerleaders in the press, because all the intelligence agencies said he had WMD (though perhaps not as confidently as our leaders pretended) and you can only go one what your intelligence agencies tell you.
Anyway, it is argued, critics are harping on too much about WMDs. The war against Iraq was also justified because the war against Iraq was part of the global War against Terrorism. Although all the intelligence agencies said that they thought the war against Iraq would increase the incidence of global terrorism, this only goes to show you shouldn't listen to intelligence agencies. After all, they were wrong about WMDs, weren't they? Politicians have to make their own judgements....
Smoking cannabis is not an affront to society like throwing acid in someone's face, and neither are Simon Heffer's columns. But they're a lot closer.
posted by Matthew @ 9/04/2004 06:46:00 PM
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