Oliver Kamm has written a wonderful article on the Lib Dems’ many forecasting failures and foolishness with regards to Iraq. An excerpt:
The Liberal Democrats’ insistence that Tony Blair took us to war on a false prospectus coexists uneasily with their earlier apprehension that Saddam would launch his WMD if attacked. Jenny Tonge, then Lib Dem International Development spokesman, advised: “Saddam Hussein is unlikely to sit in his bunker and recite John Benjamin [sic] — ‘Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough/Baghdad’. If he has the capability, he will attack his neighbours, probably Israel.”
As bad predictions go, this was impressive but pipped by Charles Kennedy’s insistence that: “Any war will cause a refugee crisis of huge proportions.” Any other war, perhaps, but not this one: Iraqi civilians, able to distinguish between a war on Baathist totalitarianism and a war on them, stayed put.
It is both in The Times and on his blog. Excellent reading.
Later
John
Posted by John Swaine at June 16, 2004 02:55 AM | TrackBack