How interesting that so many candidates for the Labour Party leadership want to tell us what a mistake the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was. Of course, it's quite convenient that two of them were not MPs in 2003 and did not have to decide to vote for or against the war in Iraq at the time. Ed Miliband wasn't even in the country so his hands must be clean! He was in the US - no chance of going on an anti-war demonstration there, I suppose. Two of the candidates - Dianne Abbott and John McDonnell voted against the war in Parliament, but bookmakers offer long odds on either of them replacing Gordon Brown.
Ken Loach is also someone who believes it's important to remember these things. This from The Guardian:
Ken Loach is back with an angry look at Iraq
The Guardian reports (May 19th): The 73-year-old director was a last-minute addition to the competition for this year's Palme d'Or with his film Route Irish, named after the hazardous road that links the green zone in Baghdad to the airport.
"The actual event, the war in Iraq, was so appalling that it takes a long time to see it in perspective." He admits that anger was a motivating force – "anger on behalf of the people who are not in a position to express it" – and he is still angry about a lot of things, not least the UK's recent election.
"It looks like the Labour party is going to remain in the grip of the rightwing and that's the worst news of all. Most of them are war criminals. Those of them who were in the cabinet during the Iraq war are war criminals with collective responsibility for the Iraq war. David Miliband shouldn't be in office, he should be in prison."
The film shines a light on the murky world of private contracting firms operating in Iraq and the controversial Order 17, which puts them above Iraqi law.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/may/19/ken-loach-route-irish-cannes
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