Calls are increasing in the US for a thorough investigation into how far the Bush administration used deception to justify the war against Iraq.
But those calls are not amounting to much, given the Republican hold on legislative clout in Washington.
For many in this part of the world, any serious and objective investigation into the conduct of the Bush administration and the Blair government would only confirm what they have known for some time: That Bush was determined to go to war against Iraq no matter what, and Blair willingly jumped on the war wagon and never looked back.
The exercise of investigations, whether in London or in Washington, is of more relevance to the British and American public than anyone else. Indeed, it is important to the rest of the international community, if only to affirm that leaders of big powers on this planet � including the sole superpower � used blatant deception to justify a war against a country and topple its regime.
At this juncture, no one is actually shedding any tears over the ouster of Saddam Hussein from power. We in this part of the world always knew about the mass graves, chemical weapons, horror chambers at Abu Ghreib, and oppressive regime, but many of us looked the other way.
A close scrutiny of the situation would immediately tell us the startling truth that we were insensitive to the plight and suffering of the people. To an extent, it was as if many in the Arab world wanted Saddam to continue in power regardless of the fact that his continued reign was at the expense of the rights of the people of Iraq. Never mind their suffering, what mattered to the Arabs on the street was that Saddam should continue to challenge the US and Israel.
Many of us are guilty of having given less thought to the suffering of the Iraqi people and focused more on what the Arabs saw and appreciated as Saddam's courage and boldness in standing up to American designs and support for Israel against Arab and Palestinian interests.
Musa Keilani Jordan Times August 17, 2003
