Bliar, Bliar, Pants on Fire…
It is worth reflecting that the week in which we learnt of the death of Nobel Laureate and Archbishop Emeritus of Capetown, Desmond Tutu, is also the week in which we learnt that the former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair has been honoured with the highest possible rank of knighthood, as a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
In 2012, Tutu withdrew from the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit in Johannesburg as he felt he “couldn’t sit with someone who justified the invasion of Iraq with a lie”. As he wrote in a Graun thinkpiece at the time of his withdrawal:
“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.”
“If leaders may lie, then who should tell the truth?”
“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.”
A renowned politician did conspire
To lead us all into the mire
Of an illegal war
But depite the uproar
He’s now knighted as Sir Tony Bliar!
