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Tony Blair should face trial over Iraq war, says Desmond Tutu

FROM: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012 ... CMP=twt_gu

Anti-apartheid hero attacks former prime minister over 'double standards on war crimes'

Tony Blair has strongly contested Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s views. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for Tony Blair and George Bush to be hauled before the international criminal court in The Hague and delivered a damning critique of the physical and moral devastation caused by the Iraq war.

Tutu, a Nobel peace prizewinner and hero of the anti-apartheid movement, accuses the former British and US leaders of lying about weapons of mass destruction and says the invasion left the world more destabilised and divided "than any other conflict in history".

Writing in the Observer, Tutu also suggests the controversial US and UK-led action to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003 created the backdrop for the civil war in Syria and a possible wider Middle East conflict involving Iran.

"The then leaders of the United States and Great Britain," Tutu argues, "fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now stand – with the spectre of Syria and Iran before us."

But it is Tutu's call for Blair and Bush to face justice in The Hague that is most startling. Claiming that different standards appear to be set for prosecuting African leaders and western ones, he says the death toll during and after the Iraq conflict is sufficient on its own for Blair and Bush to be tried at the ICC.

"On these grounds, alone, in a consistent world, those responsible for this suffering and loss of life should be treading the same path as some of their African and Asian peers who have been made to answer for their actions in The Hague," he says.

The court hears cases on genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. To date, 16 cases have been brought before the court but only one, that of Thomas Lubanga, a rebel leader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been completed. He was sentenced earlier this year to 14 years' imprisonment for his part in war crimes in his home country.

Trials under way include those of the Serbian general Ratko Mladic and former DRC military commander Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo. Arrest warrants have also been issued for several suspects, including the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, and Muammar Gaddafi's second son Saif.

Tutu's broadside is evidence of the shadow still cast by Iraq over Blair's post-prime ministerial career, as he attempts to rehabilitate himself in British public life. A longtime critic of the Iraq war, the archbishop pulled out of a South African conference on leadership last week because Blair, who was paid 2m rand (£150,000) for his time, was attending. It is understood that Tutu had agreed to speak without a fee.

In his article, the archbishop argues that as well as the death toll, there has been a heavy moral cost to civilisation, with no gain. "Even greater costs have been exacted beyond the killing fields, in the hardened hearts and minds of members of the human family across the world.

"Has the potential for terrorist attacks decreased? To what extent have we succeeded in bringing the so-called Muslim and Judeo-Christian worlds closer together, in sowing the seeds of understanding and hope?" Blair and Bush, he says, set an appalling example. "If leaders may lie, then who should tell the truth?" he asks.

"If it is acceptable for leaders to take drastic action on the basis of a lie, without an acknowledgement or an apology when they are found out, what should we teach our children?"

In a statement, Blair strongly contested Tutu's views and said Iraq was now a more prosperous country than it had been under Saddam Hussein. "I have a great respect for Archbishop Tutu's fight against apartheid – where we were on the same side of the argument – but to repeat the old canard that we lied about the intelligence is completely wrong as every single independent analysis of the evidence has shown.

"And to say that the fact that Saddam massacred hundreds of thousands of his citizens is irrelevant to the morality of removing him is bizarre. We have just had the memorials both of the Halabja massacre, where thousands of people were murdered in one day by Saddam's use of chemical weapons, and that of the Iran-Iraq war where casualties numbered up to a million including many killed by chemical weapons.

"In addition, his slaughter of his political opponents, the treatment of the Marsh Arabs and the systematic torture of his people make the case for removing him morally strong. But the basis of action was as stated at the time.

"In short, this is the same argument we have had many times with nothing new to say. But surely in a healthy democracy people can agree to disagree.

"I would also point out that despite the problems, Iraq today has an economy three times or more in size, with the child mortality rate cut by a third of what it was. And with investment hugely increased in places like Basra."

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Why I had no choice but to spurn Tony Blair
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• Malchemy
2 September 2012 12:09AM
Desmond Tutu, well said sir!
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• fry10d
2 September 2012 12:10AM
The man who reportedly jumped up and down squealing, "I'm the Prime Minister. I'm the Prime Minister", now has plenty of time to reflect upon just how many people he let down by his childish infatuation with himself and his vain-glorious image.
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• Nolordsreform
2 September 2012 12:10AM
Damn right they should, they should be chained together and dragged kicking and screaming into the court.
Bastards
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• closetothemeat
2 September 2012 12:11AM
There is nothing a tribunal or trial could do to Tony Blair that his own conscience isn't doing already, and for that we should be grateful
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• isse92
2 September 2012 12:11AM
Couldn't agree more Mr Tutu.
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• ChanceyGardener
2 September 2012 12:12AM
He should also face trial over the death of Dr David Kelly
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• ChebHead
2 September 2012 12:12AM
Bliar, Oil, Bush, Israel, Rothschilds, etc.

Grow up, for God's sake.
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• quethiock
2 September 2012 12:12AM
Tutu is right. He speaks for the vast majority world-wide who were opposed to the war and saw it for what it was. If only more Anglican bishops could take a stand like Tutu's.
For Blair to point to an improvement in child mortality rates merely demonstrates his historical myopia, ignoring the impact of the US/UK-led sanctions which denied Iraqi children access to vital treatments.
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• WilliamOneTell
2 September 2012 12:13AM
It's unfortunate that Desmond Tutu hadn't been so outspoken against Mugabe and his rule and other instances involving atrocities closer to home in Africa.
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• bubblensqueak
2 September 2012 12:14AM
It's not often I find myself in agreement with religious leaders, but this Desmond is always spot on. Shame the world does not have more like him, and less like Blair, in positions of power and influence.
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• esra
2 September 2012 12:14AM
That would be fun....
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• Chris Icarus
2 September 2012 12:14AM
Grinning Tony would have the jury eating out of his hand..he could have sold oil to Iraq instead of obliterating it. The boy is good. Sleezy Bush would swing though. poor simple minded sap. The mind of a child with his mitts on the trigger.
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• TheClave
2 September 2012 12:16AM
Odd, Mr Tutu seemed quite keen to see the back of oppressive thugs when they ran his home country.
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• DyslexicAunt
2 September 2012 12:17AM
'white man speak with forked tongue'
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• Malchemy
2 September 2012 12:17AM
Blair;
"I would also point out that despite the problems, Iraq today has an economy three times or more in size, with the child mortality rate cut by a third of what it was."
Not hard to achieve considering the years of sanctions and almost complete embargoes that the country had suffered after the first Gulf war. However the above does serve top illustrate just what a slippery customer old Tony is and the extent to which he'll bend the facts around a favoured narrative.
A war of aggression is always crime no matter what convenient post facto rationalisation is proffered by the perpetrator.
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• WatTylersSister
2 September 2012 12:17AM
Don't forget, Iraq wasn't the only illegal war that Blair took us into - he never had a UN mandate to go into the Kosovan Region of Serbia either.
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• YamaCharlton
2 September 2012 12:17AM
Bush is a war criminal. Blair is probably a war criminal. Tutu is an egotist.
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• glenans
2 September 2012 12:17AM
Absolutely right Desmond Tutu and thank you for saying so
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• Geeky_Disco
2 September 2012 12:18AM
Of course, churches have never killed anyone. Oops.
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• GW74
2 September 2012 12:18AM
Happy to share a platform and a giggle with Hamas though eh Desmond?
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• SevenSeas7
2 September 2012 12:18AM
Response to ChanceyGardener, 2 September 2012 12:12AM
At last - well said, Desmond Tutu!
He should also face trial over the death of Dr David Kelly
- absolutely!
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• tryder1
2 September 2012 12:18AM
YES.
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• brenzone
2 September 2012 12:18AM
The poodle - a toadying, venal quisling. The fact that this guy continues to be entertained in any way by the establishment of this country speaks volumes about what society has become here. Elevating the dishonourable - it just adds to my bemusement and ultimately indifference. Well said Archbishop Tutu!
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• MisterMattBlack
2 September 2012 12:18AM
I'm with Tutu on this one.
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• presidentjamie
2 September 2012 12:19AM
The anti-war left represent everything that is wrong with the left at the moment.
Suddenly, we have become apologists for fascists. During the 1980s we were solidly anti-Saddam whilst the Thatcher/Reagan governments ignored and propped him up. And now, the left has done a u-turn. We've decided he should have been left alone. We shout "peace!!" whilst the left wing, along with the Marsh Arabs, the Kurds, and the residents of Halabja were daily slaughtered by this monster. The anti-war left is no longer an international movement of solidarity. The left spent the 20th century rightfully opposing fascists, and the 21st century tacitly supporting their regimes, all in the name of this new found anti-Americanism.
Anti-war for the sake of being anti-war, is not without its consequences. Had the anti-war coalition succeeded in preventing either the toppling of Saddam or the ousting of the Taliban, they would absolutely have the blood on their hands of everyone who ended up tortured and murdered as these regimes saw fit. Turning a blind eye to fascism is the great disgrace of the left at the moment, and it shames me, given that I see myself as an anti-fascist leftie.
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• petapenny
2 September 2012 12:19AM
Our beautiful world is a better place for having Bishop Tutu in it. When Blair dies he will have left a legacy of shame and embarrassment for his children and grandchildren. All the money he made through the misfortune and murders of others must be tormenting him as he cannot wipe the slate clean.
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• Iraandoost
2 September 2012 12:20AM
Dragging Tony Blair to The Hague would be a very good start; many other of his accomplice war criminals, should also face The Hague.
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• Kepler
2 September 2012 12:20AM
Blair made a judgment to go to war against a ghastly dictator (Saddam), and against a country that had become a terrorist training camp (Afghan). That doesn't make him a 'war criminal'.
Did Tutu get irate against Saddam's brutality? Or Osama Bin Laden's terrorist attacks before 9/11? I don't recall so.
Where Blair became culpable is when he colluded with Guantanamo, CIA seizures of suspects, torture and the denial that anything untoward was going on.
Discrimination called for.
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• MOKent
2 September 2012 12:20AM
If there is any significant part of the establishment that thinks Iraq and Afghanistan were good ideas then, ok, do a show trial, but the people who really have the right to try him are those who were subjected to the collateral damage - because that was the real crime, to expose any civilian population to collateral damage.
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• trappyskillmore
2 September 2012 12:21AM
If such a trail were to take place it would need to be huge in scope. Something like the size of the Maxi Trial of 1986 in Sicily. It should involve the reasons why war decided upon, the huge robberies committed against Iraq and the death and destruction wreaked upon the people. It would be a 10 year international cluster fuck, then Blair would die of a heart attack a week before the conclusion.
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• TheClave
2 September 2012 12:23AM
I really don't think a man who has based his whole life on a misguided belief in an invisible friend is really in a position to complain about someone elses belief in WMDs that turned out to be absent.
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• transat
2 September 2012 12:23AM
Poland is better off today than before Hitler invaded... Therefore Hitler should be praised. Blair's logic baffles, especially when there were clear signs from Saddam's camp that just a bit more pressure would have been enough to see him go while avoiding the massive bloodshed and destabilisation that followed.
Tutu is right. Blair is a liar and a criminal.
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• iggy89
2 September 2012 12:23AM
The Iraq war was justified because 'investement hugely increased in places like Basra'. I'm sure if all those Iraqi civilians were alive they would agree, because even though death is a bit of a setback, enjoying those increases in investement will more than make up for it.
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• bubblensqueak
2 September 2012 12:24AM
Response to closetothemeat, 2 September 2012 12:11AM
There is nothing a tribunal or trial could do to Tony Blair that his own conscience isn't doing already, and for that we should be grateful

Uh?
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• rdb1
2 September 2012 12:24AM
Response to closetothemeat, 2 September 2012 12:11AM
Never underestimate the power of denial.
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• vhawk
2 September 2012 12:24AM
just the tiny problem of a prosecutor, a tribunal, and evidence to get over. winners don't get prosecuted, only losers.-he has nothing to fear, nor should he, he did right, albeit for the wrong reasons, but does that matter?
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• penlan2
2 September 2012 12:24AM
make sure Miliband sees this. he's the one trying to reintegrate Bliar into what remains of (New) Labour.
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• CleevesMort
2 September 2012 12:24AM
" the old canard" that "we lied" the utter arrogance of this creature knows no bounds
what a filthy way to speak
You fucking LIED Blair and you and everyone else knows it
i hope to see you and that other nut face justice in the Hague for the murder of innocent men women and children
you bastard
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• fmgazette
2 September 2012 12:24AM
Iraq today has an economy three times or more in size
Well that's ok then. As long as those casualties didn't die in vain.
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• Davewhoever
2 September 2012 12:24AM
Also alleged - And for conspiracy to commit a breach of peace; conspiracy to pervert an enquiry; giving false evidence ...
Blair is their for the taking but until the Americans release their files which they will never do you, you know as does Blair but you can not prove anything ... even back to how he was funded and the money channelled to start him up. All must be alleged and the same for Brown's flat in Westminster and the other housing deals hidden under Security.
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• LeeRudolph
2 September 2012 12:25AM
Response to closetothemeat, 2 September 2012 12:11AM
his own conscience

Assumes a fact not in evidence.
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• vhawk
2 September 2012 12:25AM
Response to rdb1, 2 September 2012 12:24AM
nor overestimate the power of accusation,-it's feeble.
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• suIaco
2 September 2012 12:26AM
Response to WilliamOneTell, 2 September 2012 12:13AM
Do your research maybe? Tutu has been widely critical of Mugabe since after he became a tyrant.
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• mactheanti
2 September 2012 12:28AM
Response to fry10d, 2 September 2012 12:10AM
When did he do that?
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• BlackheathCanuck
2 September 2012 12:28AM
Desmond Tutu is absolutely correct. Note how Tutu talks about truth and morality and Blair's response focuses on economics. Two different kinds of leaders: Tutu speaks truth to power; Blair abused his power and aligned himself with the cynical. Let justice prevail.
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• BadDog
2 September 2012 12:28AM
I can't think what Desmond Tutu is on about.
What does he mean, Tony is a war criminal?
Tony Bliar is the Middle East Peace Envoy for for the United Nations, European Union, United States, and Russia!
By the way, Tony, how's that ME Peace Envoy thing going? You visited Gaza yet? Stopped Israel building illegal settlements in Palestine?
What's that? You haven't done either?
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• sham144
2 September 2012 12:28AM
Desmond Tutu, I salute you sir - you and Mr Mandela are true leaders!! Blair and Bush, and countless Western Leaders before them should be in front of the Hague with a rope around their neck!!
The Hague is nothing more then a kangaroo court, set up by Western Powers to ensure that the weak are kept in line and set an example of!! It just reminds me of the justice system in the wild west - the weak got smacked by the sheriff and powerful just divided all the lands and resources!!
Around the world the Hague isn't seen as a justice system but an arm of Western imperialism!!
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• mactheanti
2 September 2012 12:29AM
What has Tutu to say about Syria? Or is that problem just a "little bit" to real and now to pass judgement on?
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• Yak3
2 September 2012 12:30AM
...the Iran-Iraq war where casualties numbered up to a million...
in the days when Saddam was the West's proxy.
...including many killed by chemical weapons
the precursors for which were supplied by western companies.
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• mactheanti
2 September 2012 12:30AM
Response to sham144, 2 September 2012 12:28AM
You salute Mugabe? Who are you really George Galloway?
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