Perhaps we have blood on our hands too

STALIN once said: “One man’s death is a tragedy, one million deaths, just a statistic.” When weapons inspector David Kelly met his tragic death last July, a reporter in Japan asked Tony Blair “Have you blood on your hands, will you resign, Prime Minister?”

UN and US weapons inspectors Scott Ritter, Hans Blix, and now David Kay, all concluded that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction prior to the US-led war on Iraq. US Secretary of State Powell has now conceded “it is possible that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction”.

Fianna Fáil’s Martin Mansergh justifies Ireland’s participation in the Iraq war (about 130,000 troops through Shannon airport) by calling it pragmatism.

Up to 30,000 people were killed in the first two months of this war. They died pragmatically. Some were shredded and incinerated and died horrible deaths. Are they already just Stalin-style statistics? No Irish reporter has so far had the courage to ask any Irish politician “Have you blood on your hands, will you resign?”

I’m asking that question now.

Edward Horgan,

Peace and Neutrality Alliance,

Newtown,

Castletroy,

Limerick.