  I have noticed that President Bushs case for war in Iraq closely paralleled the efforts of Winston Churchill to alert the world to the threat posed by Hitler. It makes one wonder if President Bush and PM Tony Blair have read The Gathering Storm and used it as a guide.
President Bush did make reference to appeasing dictators and the League of Nations. The obvious difference is that Hitler was a very grave threat, but the full scale Saddams threat to our country, if any, has yet to be proven. Last night I was reading a chapter in Their Finest Hour and it contained my favourite Churchill quote: History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former days. Churchill said those words about his late predecessor Neville Chamberlain. I expect I am missing his true meaning, but Churchill goes on to question the use of history with its flawed and incomplete view of the past. He argues that a man is really measured by his conscience. Churchill knew Chamberlain would be judged harshly, so he chose to highlight his intentions, not his foibles. Chamberlain wanted to avoid another bloody, pointless war, and he only failed in his attempt because he was signing a worthless pact with an evil and duplicitous man.
Churchill argued that when hearts are weighed, the flawed picture presented by history loses its importance. Why am I going on about this? I think this principle may apply to Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush today. With what intention and with what conscience did these men make the heavy decision to go to war?
Was it for the good of Iraq and for our two nations, or was it for some other, less noble purpose? Were the data on WMD embellished, and if so, why? If the real reason for war was not WMD, then why not reveal the truth to us? Surely if it was compelling enough for President Bush and Prime Minister Blair, it would be so for the rest of the world. 
