Blair & God

I was in Istanbul at an anti war conference when I heard of Tony Blair's assertion that god will judge him for the war in iraq. Most people looked bemused. I pointed out that most people would like him to be brought to account rather sooner than he plans, preferably judged by British people themselves.

He is also pushing his luck. He has already survived the Hutton whitewash and the Butler inquiry - the third time he might not be so lucky.

The delusional belief in his own rightness and his mystical refusal to deal with the realities of iraq has made life much harder for the rest of us. A growing number of people in Britain and around the world are opposed to the occupation, an increasing number of troops are dying, and the Iraqis themselves are demonstrating and organising for the troops to leave. But while he preaches democracy to the rest of the world, he refuses to be held accountable by anybody other than God.

After the conference I walked past the British consulate in Istanbul and looked at its new fortifications following the bombing there. British embassies around the world are being fortified, US embassies are being built outside of town like in Beirut, the list of countries that the Foreign Office advises British citizens not to visit is growing. Yet the madness of the war on terror - now rebranded the 'long war' by the Americans - continues.

Meanwhile, Condoleezza Rice is visiting Jack Straw's consituency of Blackburn. No doubt she will be surrounded by police and security to protect her from demonstrators. At the same time, we are having trouble from the police about our plans to sign petitions on Parliament Square on the day of our demo, March 18th. There is increasing restriction on this square, demonstrating on which can be judged a serious crime under last year's law. Maybe we should say we will only be judged by god.