Michael Smith (Extracted from "MPs unite for inquiry into Blair's conduct over Iraq", Sunday Times, 6 November 2005)

"Tony Blair is set to face an unprecedented parliamentary inquiry into his conduct in the run-up to the Iraq war. A coalition of Tory and Labour MPs is to table a motion to set up a Commons committee to examine "the conduct of ministers" both before and after the war. They believe they need the support of about 30 Labour rebels to succeed."

[Ed American and British politicians were mostly supine when Bush and Blair concocted information concerning the need to invade Iraq even though the falsities were apparent to intelligent laymen. Now that the whole occupation has turned into a nightmare, the politicians are sharpening their knives. In the last few days, senior Democrats and Republicans in America, and in this country, Labour and Tory MPs, are going into secret session to extract the truth about the extraordinary decision of no more than about a dozen individuals on both sides of the Atlantic. Even so, we will probably not discover the true reason for the invasion for a long time -- not until the transcripts of the evidence given to Vice-president Cheney's Energy Commission of 2002 are released. And there is no need to mention once again just what that was all about.]