Tribunal against Blair futile

The investigation into the Iraq war started yesterday in London. Chaired by Sir John Chilcot, the committee will question former leader Tony Blair and current Prime Minister Gordon Brown. However the daily The Guardian doubts there will be much political fallout: "Suppose Chilcot were to name and blame specific ministers and public servants and call for their impeachment as deceivers or even as war criminals. What does parliament do? There has been no formal trial or even parliamentary hearing. Do MPs call in the director of public prosecutions? Suppose Chilcot blames parliament, as he should. ... Does it again dissolve itself? The answer is that it will do none of these things. Chilcot is performing an exercise in historical research. Parliament will do absolutely nothing with his report, as it is doing nothing about Blair's other war in Afghanistan, even when there is still time to stop more unnecessary bloodletting. To MPs Chilcot is merely a convenience for getting themselves off the hook. ... It is to this that democratic accountability is reduced: long periods of silent inertia interrupted by occasional spurts of blood."

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