Warmonger Hugh White: War may prove more of a blunder than a crime: "Whatever the complex and confused motives at work in Washington, Bush's removal of a tyrant that terrorised Iraq's people but posed no direct threat to the US is unlikely to be judged by history as an act of selfish aggression."

That of course, depends on who is writing the history. But for the rest of the planet it is as naked an act of selfish aggression as could be. The concept of this war or any war as an act of 'philanthropic compassion' is laughable. White does not once mention oil or US military bases or US corporations and expects readers to believe his fairy story. Well we have news for him - a lot of people dont believe it. And not just in the Muslim world but in the West as well.

"And Washington has yet to resolve the dilemma at the heart of the Iraqi project - that a truly democratic Iraq will most likely be weak, unstable, theocratic and anti-American. To avoid these risks the US will need to take a lot of time - not months, but years - to build not just new institutions but new attitudes. At five deaths a week, that time will be bought at a terrible cost."

White does not have the courage to come out and say openly what is obvious and has already been stated by senior US officials, that there will be no 'true democracy' (ie, Shiite, Iranian-aligned, no US bases or corporations) in Iraq but only a regime ('a limited, top-down democracy') which suits US interests. Either that or Vietnam-style defeat for the US invasion.

Warmonger Hugh White: War may prove more of a blunder than a crime: "Whatever the complex and confused motives at work in Washington, Bush's removal of a tyrant that terrorised Iraq's people but posed no direct threat to the US is unlikely to be judged by history as an act of selfish aggression."

That of course, depends on who is writing the history. But for the rest of the planet it is as naked an act of selfish aggression as could be. The concept of this war or any war as an act of 'philanthropic compassion' is laughable. White does not once mention oil or US military bases or US corporations and expects readers to believe his fairy story. Well we have news for him - a lot of people dont believe it. And not just in the Muslim world but in the West as well.

"And Washington has yet to resolve the dilemma at the heart of the Iraqi project - that a truly democratic Iraq will most likely be weak, unstable, theocratic and anti-American. To avoid these risks the US will need to take a lot of time - not months, but years - to build not just new institutions but new attitudes. At five deaths a week, that time will be bought at a terrible cost."

White does not have the courage to come out and say openly what is obvious and has already been stated by senior US officials, that there will be no 'true democracy' (ie, Shiite, Iranian-aligned, no US bases or corporations) in Iraq but only a regime ('a limited, top-down democracy') which suits US interests. Either that or Vietnam-style defeat for the US invasion.