Cyberbint

I don't care who says it, or what political party they represent. When it comes to Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell, the Iraq War must never be forgotten, and neither should those responsible for taking Britain into it. Last night on BBC Question Time, @ZiaYusufUK called Alastair Campbell a "war criminal" to his face. Campbell didn't appear to take kindly to the accusation. But then, the families of those who died in Iraq have had rather more to endure than a few uncomfortable moments on national television. What makes it all the more galling is how readily the British establishment rehabilitates its own. Catastrophic decisions that cost thousands of lives are treated as unfortunate chapters in otherwise distinguished careers. Accountability, it seems, is reserved for those without the right connections. Tony Blair was awarded the Order of the Garter, one of Britain's highest honours. Alastair Campbell reinvented himself as a podcast statesman, dispensing lectures on honesty, decency and political integrity to an audience apparently willing to overlook his part in selling the Iraq War. For those at the top, reputations can be rebuilt. For the dead, there is no such luxury. The facts do not care about their polished reputations. One hundred and seventy-nine British service personnel came home in boxes from an illegal war built on cooked intelligence, sexed-up dossiers, and sheer imperial vanity. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis paid for that catastrophic lie with their lives, their families, and the total ruin of their homeland. Robin Cook had the spine to resign on principle, warning Parliament of the abyss ahead. David Kelly, a decent civil servant trapped in Downing Street's spin machine, ended up dead in an Oxfordshire wood. The political class will tell you it was a different time, that good men acted in good faith on flawed intelligence, or that we must move forward. It is pure self-exoneration. If an ordinary working man lied about his credentials and caused the death of one person, he would spend decades behind bars. When power commits murder on an industrial scale, Britain does not build a dock for the accused. It builds them a career. The architects of the invasion received honours and rehabilitation. The dead received no second chance.