The Hollow Man

Jack Straw comments on the death of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

I hope his passing will enable the people of Serbia better to come to terms with their past, which is the only way in which they can properly face the future.

I agree. It is vital that people come to terms with their past if they are to properly face the future.

Jack Straw's private view of the case for war in Iraq. (July 2002)

The Foreign Secretary said he would discuss this with Colin Powell this week. It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.

Jack Straw's public view of the case for war in Iraq. (March 2003)

We know that this man has weapons of mass destruction. That sounds like a slightly abstract phrase, but what we are talking about is chemical weapons, biological weapons, viruses, bacilli and anthrax—10,000 litres of anthrax—that he has. We know that he has it, Dr. Blix points that out and he has failed to account for that. If we allow these weapons to remain in the possession of Saddam Hussein and do nothing about it, we cannot complain when the regime becomes further empowered to act in a tyrannical way with his neighbours and also if such weaponry finds its way into the hands of other rogue states or terrorist groups and then inflicts destruction very much nearer home.

Kenneth Clarke ask's Jack a question on the case for war in Iraq. (February 2004)

Does he accept that many people in the diplomatic and security world, as well as politicians, think that the invasion of Iraq was decided on by the American Administration long before the events we are considering, and that the arguments about weapons of mass destruction and United Nations resolutions were introduced to enable the British Government to try to provide a legal basis for the decision that had already been taken to support the Americans in the invasion?

Jack Straw answers.

I do not accept the basis of what the right hon. and learned Gentleman has said.

Read the memo again. Then Clarke's question. Then try to explain how it is that Jack Straw has not been called to account for lying to the House of Commons.

So, when Jack Straw says people need to come to terms with their past if they are properly to face the future, it engenders a curious mixture of disgust, contempt, anger and downright loathing. Hypocrisy, when it comes from those who claim to be guardians of morality, really makes me want to puke.

If there was the tiniest shred of decency left in the black pit he employs in place of his long departed conscience, he'd have apologised and resigned long ago.

Tags: News, Politics, Jack Straw, Iraq