LONDON,
February 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. President
George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair should say have
the guts to say sorry for waging an "immoral war" on Iraq,
Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu was to say
later Monday, February 16.
According
to excerpts of a speech he is due to diver late Monday, February 16,
Tutu would remind the war duo that "weak and insecure people
hardly ever say 'sorry'."
He
would advice Bush and Blair to restore their badly damaged credibility
by apologized for waging a war that left the world "a great deal
less safe", reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"How
wonderful if politicians could bring themselves to admit they are only
fallible human creatures, and not God, and thus by definition can make
mistakes," the Nobel laureate would say in an evening lecture at
Longford.
"It
is large-hearted and courageous people who are not diminished by
saying, 'I made a mistake.' President Bush and Prime Minister Blair
would recover considerable credibility and respect if they were able
to say, 'Yes, we made a mistake'.
"Unfortunately,
they seem to think that such an admission is a sign of weakness,"
Tutu will say in his speech published in Monday's Independent
newspaper, which is sponsoring the event.
The
Archbishop was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his
non-violent struggle against apartheid in his native South Africa.
In
December, Tutu said ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein Saddam
should be put on trial before the International Criminal Court in The
Hague on the understanding that he is innocent until proven guilty.
‘Immoral
War’
Tutu
will hit out at the "belligerent and militarist" policies of
the U.S., which paved the way for waging an "immoral war" on
Iraq based on flawed intelligence.
He
believes such policies "have produced a novel and dangerous
principle, that of pre-emption on the basis of intelligence reports
that in one particular instance have been shown can be dangerously
flawed and yet were the basis for the United States going to
war".
Britain
was also dragged into declaring that "intelligence reports showed
Iraq to have the capacity to launch its weapons of mass destruction in
a matter of minutes, " according to Tutu’s speech.
"An
immoral war was thus waged and the world is a great deal less safe
place than before. There are many more who resent the powerful who can
throw their weight about so callously and with so much impunity."
 |
|
"I know what it's like when you lose the consent and the legitimacy of that war," said Kerry
|
Sir
Menzies Campbell, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, was
quoted by the Independent as saying that "comments from
such a widely respected figure of independent mind emphasizes the
extent to which Britain's reputation and possibly influence have been
affected by the military action against Iraq.
"I
doubt if President Bush or Mr Blair are going to apologize, but they
should certainly reflect seriously upon the alienation of figures such
as Desmond Tutu."
Congress-pressured
Bush ordered
earlier in the month a bipartisan commission to probe apparent flaws
in intelligence used to invade Iraq, after a stunning
acknowledgment made by his close aid and National
Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice that pre-war intelligence might have
been flawed.
Blair
also bowed to mounting pressures both from his Labour Party and the
opposition and announced a
cross-party inquiry into the quality of British
intelligence about Iraq's alleged weapons, which have not been found
so far.
Tutu
will say that the two leaders have operated a policy of "might is
right - and to hell with the rule of international law".
‘Rushed
To War’
In
another related development, Bush’s decision to invade Iraq also
came under a wave of renewed criticism from Democratic presidential
hopefuls.
"I
think this president rushed to war," Democratic frontrunner John
Kerry said in the nationally televised debate at Marquette University
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
"I
know what it's like when you lose the consent and the legitimacy of
that war," said the Vietnam veteran.
Former
Vermont governor Howard Dean also accused Bush of "systematically
looting the American treasury and giving it to his friends".
"I
do not think we were told the truth about why we went to war in Iraq
and I think that's a huge problem," he added.
Ohio
Representative Dennis Kucinich pressed ahead with the central element
of his platform, demanding a quick U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
"We
should be worried about the National Guardsmen and Guardswomen who are
in Iraq right now, who shouldn't be there," he insisted.
"He
[Bush] sent those men and women there on a lie, and we have to bring
them home," he said.
