The Guardian, The Observer, Desmond Tutu, Sunday 2 September 2012
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| Desmond Tutu: pulled out of a seminar which Tony Blair was scheduled to attend. Photograph: Str/REUTERS |
The
immorality of the United States and Great Britain's decision to invade Iraq in
2003, premised on the lie that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, has
destabilised and polarised the world to a greater extent than any other conflict
in history.
Instead of
recognising that the world we lived in, with increasingly sophisticated
communications, transportations and weapons systems necessitated sophisticated
leadership that would bring the global family together, the then-leaders of the
US and UK fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us
further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now
stand – with the spectre of Syria and Iran before us.
If leaders
may lie, then who should tell the truth? Days before George W Bush and TonyBlair ordered the invasion of Iraq, I called the White House and spoke to
Condoleezza Rice, who was then national security adviser, to urge that United
Nations weapons inspectors be given more time to confirm or deny the existence
of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Should they be able to confirm finding
such weapons, I argued, dismantling the threat would have the support of
virtually the entire world. Ms Rice demurred, saying there was too much risk
and the president would not postpone any longer.
On what
grounds do we decide that Robert Mugabe should go the International Criminal
Court, Tony Blair should join the international speakers' circuit, bin Laden
should be assassinated, but Iraq should be invaded, not because it possesses
weapons of mass destruction, as Mr Bush's chief supporter, Mr Blair, confessed
last week, but in order to get rid of Saddam Hussein?
The cost of
the decision to rid Iraq of its by-all-accounts despotic and murderous leader
has been staggering, beginning in Iraq itself. Last year, an average of 6.5
people died there each day in suicide attacks and vehicle bombs, according to
the Iraqi Body Count project. More than 110,000 Iraqis have died in the
conflict since 2003 and millions have been displaced. By the end of last year,
nearly 4,500 American soldiers had been killed and more than 32,000 wounded.
On these
grounds alone, in a consistent world, those responsible for this suffering and
loss of life should be treading the same path as some of their African and
Asian peers who have been made to answer for their actions in the Hague.
But even
greater costs have been exacted beyond the killing fields, in the hardened
hearts and minds of members of the human family across the world.
Has the
potential for terrorist attacks decreased? To what extent have we succeeded in
bringing the so-called Muslim and Judeo-Christian worlds closer together, in
sowing the seeds of understanding and hope?
Leadership
and morality are indivisible. Good leaders are the custodians of morality. The
question is not whether Saddam Hussein was good or bad or how many of his
people he massacred. The point is that Mr Bush and Mr Blair should not have
allowed themselves to stoop to his immoral level.
If it is
acceptable for leaders to take drastic action on the basis of a lie, without an
acknowledgement or an apology when they are found out, what should we teach our
children?
My appeal
to Mr Blair is not to talk about leadership, but to demonstrate it. You are a
member of our family, God's family. You are made for goodness, for honesty, for
morality, for love; so are our brothers and sisters in Iraq, in the US, in
Syria, in Israel and Iran.
I did not
deem it appropriate to have this discussion at the Discovery Invest Leadership
Summit in Johannesburg last week. As the date drew nearer, I felt an
increasingly profound sense of discomfort about attending a summit on
"leadership" with Mr Blair. I extend my humblest and sincerest
apologies to Discovery, the summit organisers, the speakers and delegates for
the lateness of my decision not to attend.
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