One of the myriad examples of the abject failure at high-level to plan for a post-invasion Iraq was that Harry Barnes – former Labour MP for Derbyshire North East – had his advice sought. The reason being that he had carried-out his National Service there five decades previously.
Harry opposed the invasion at every Parliamentary vote, and founded Labour Against the War. In February 2005, he resigned once it became clear that:
“Labour Against the War hasn’t adopted a creditable analysis of the changed position and adopts an approach which aids terrorist, religious extremist and anti-democratic forces in the Middle East.
[…]
I thought it was right to oppose the war. But history moves on and the Iraqi people now have a golden opportunity to take back their country and build a decent non-sectarian democracy based on social justice. There are huge obstacles but I hope that parts of the left don’t make themselves part of the problem by ignoring the urgent need to back the new Iraqi labour movement. Labour Against the War is standing in the way of solidarity and I have resigned to help alert the wider movement to the need to support Grassroots Iraq.”
The second point in particular, and his co-founding Labour Friends of Iraq with warmongerers such as Anne Clwyd led to an attempted defenestration by Andrew Murray of the StWC and CP(G)B.
Other examples of this toothpick approach to reconstructing Iraq by opponents of the invasion included the FBU’s donation of fire appliances: covered by Harry here.
Now that the cry of Zenga Zenga is going-up across Tripoli, are Saucers able to suggest similar schemes already in operation or about to be started?
(Before I am accused of making incomprehensible references, the toothpick remark was an injoke between me and Harry. Enough toothpicks can bring down a wall, that sort of thing.)
