As I have said from the start Iraq will end up with a new dictator

As I have said from the start, Iraq will end up with a new dictator.”You can only believe this if you ignore several key facts. Northern Iraq has been a thriving democracy for more than a decade now, and it is no less “tribal” than the rest of the country. This semi-medieval society, with its inbred clans and all-powerful imams, does not want to be like Britain or America. Peter Hitchens has typically asked: “You think [Iraq] can be turned into a democracy? Don’t be so silly. Last week a Tory MP said casually to me: “Iraqis don’t want to vote. They want to visit Mecca and chop off their neighbours’ hands.”I hear this argument every day, not just from cab drivers. But many people – mostly on the right – have begun to declare that Iraqis themselves do not want democracy for their country.

I can understand (and share) one of those fears: that the US has no intention of promoting democracy in Iraq. What do I say to my family [if I took your position]? Well thanks a lot for your support. The rest of us will keep on fighting for Iraqi democracy without you.”
He’s right. How can we despair while a terrorised country fights for democracy? There are two main forms of pessimism spreading through British opinion like dry rot. Over the past few weeks, my replies to him have been permeated by my hopeless, sullen mood He has always been polite, even when we disagree strongly But then last week, he snapped: “You can afford to despair You aren’t in Baghdad You aren’t in Basra. How will there be enough omniscience to go round?simoncarr75 hotmail
More from Simon Carr. Back in February 2003, an Iraqi asylum-seeker living in Glasgow started e-mailing me, explaining his reasons for supporting the war.

If only we knew what.Mr Brown then went on to amuse other parts of the House by announcing he is meeting the Pope next month What a clash of infallibilities that will be. Oliver Letwin amused parts of the House by congratulating him on his tenure as Chancellor, comparing him with a Soviet finance minister with a very long name who’d served for 25 years and never actually became prime minister.Mr Brown didn’t laugh He didn’t smile Actually he didn’t react at all What a sign of something that is. Gordon Prentice, assuming it was flannel, made incredulous gesticulations from the back bench.My information – and I can misleadingly say it comes from a cabinet minister – is the Bill will indeed be introduced in time for the Parliament Act to be applied to it but it will happen at the last possible minute. This will allow the Prime Minister to keep some leverage over his dissidents, and also squeeze the Countryside Alliance for time (they want to apply for a judicial review on human rights grounds).Gordon Brown has passed some sort of longevity test in his position as leader-in-waiting. Nothing could raise the morale in Labour constituencies, he said, and there was only three weeks left to reintroduce it. David Winnick gave some roaring boy support against “the barbaric practice” and Mr Hain made soothing noises He was “with them in sentiment” He would make an announcement “when the time is right”.

Young people, of course, might prefer to watch mud wrestling, for its elevated sense of professional ethics.Dennis Skinner demanded the return of the foxhunting Bill. The Tories don’t mean it but hope that saying it will make them more popular. At least Mr Forth’s unpopularity allows him to say what he actually thinks So there we were. Mr Hain said in one breath he wanted to make the place accessible to young people and in the next he accused the Tories of losing the elections last week. Young people might think the Tories, with their larger share of the vote and the seats they’d won and the larger number of councils under their control, these young people might be thinking the Tories won the elections last week. They would have to grapple with Mr Hain’s explanation that he was taking into account the seasonally adjusted, regionally weighted results, balanced for this point in the electoral cycle and measured against second preference expectations The result was the opposite, young people would find.