Tony's punishment

(Sedgefield, England)

May is an important month in the life of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was born in May 1953, became PM in May 1997, and announced his resignation at a meeting in Sedgefield in May 2007.

It is now two years since that speech, in which Blair told the democratic world what it had deserved to hear for some time, and yet nothing has been done to convict one of the most notorious and unrepentant modern leaders.

On 8th July 1982 Saddam Hussein responded to an attempted assassination by having 148 men killed in the town of Dujail, a crime for which he was eventually tried and hanged in December 2006.

On 11th July 1995 Radislav Krstic oversaw the killing of as many as 8000 men from Srebrenica, and in August 2001 he was sentenced to 46 years in prison (later reduced to 35).

On the 20th March 2003 Blair and then US President George Bush started the Iraq war based on lies about Iraqi weaponry – most conservative estimates are that 100,000 civilians died and nearly two million people were made refugees, and there are still numerous charges of torture and other war crimes outstanding against the invading forces.

And then there’s the matter of Doctor David Kelly.

So far Blair has been rewarded with the job of peace envoy to the Middle East – oh the irony – and choice posts at JPMorgan Chase, Yale University with the promise that he will be made President of Europe. He is also a millionaire.

The people of Iraq still have to contend with the presence of around 140,000 mainly US and British troops, a lack of utilities, and other life-threatening problems such as hunger and cholera.

It is time for the so-called international community to exert pressure on Britain to try Blair for his crimes, and if Britain refuses to clean up after its own then the ICC should take up the responsibility on behalf of the victims, otherwise a dangerous message will be sent to Western leaders – if you are rich and white, you can do whatever you want.

And one day, the victims will not be on the other side of the world.