Lord Butler: Another enquiry ... a few more questions ... but no one accountable

Tom Happold in the Guardian:

"We are told that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. On that information, we invade said clear and present threat. Then we fail to find any WMDs, and discover that much of our intelligence was "seriously flawed". But nobody is to blame. In brief, that's the conclusion of Lord Butler's report.

If democracy is based on accountability - the notion that politicians and public servants must answer for their actions - then today's report is a profoundly undemocratic document. Lord Butler and his colleagues make a point of backing John Scarlett's promotion to head of MI6. Who said the establishment was dead?"

I cannot believe the politicians (Blair, Bush & Howard) and public servants are not answerable for:

1) going to war on a false basis ie killing people on the basis of a falsehood,
2) over exaggerating their case for war,
3) failing to adequately plan for the occupation and
4) increasing terrorism through the creation of an unstable Iraq and breeding ground for terrorists,
5) failure to adequately address the Israeli-Palestinian issue ie Mr Sharon tear down that wall,
6) the atrocities of Abu Grahib,
7) the encouragement, support and legal license to push the boundaries of what the Geneva convention and allow torture,
8) the decline in the credibility and moral standing of the US, UK and Australia in the world.

If Public Inquiries cannot address accountability of politicians (Blair, Bush & Howard) and public servants then we have an obligation to our own morality and the value of democracy to kick Bush, Blair and Howard out at the next election (wherever you may be).

Mr Happold continues: "If the BBC had to cleanse itself with the blood of three sacrificial resignations after Lord Hutton found against it, is it too much to ask for someone in Whitehall to take the blame for taking us to war for reasons that turned out to be false?

...

Cleared of the "deliberate distortion" of intelligence, Tony Blair remains unrepentant about going to war over flawed information."

How do you explain to the families of servicemen who have died, to the Iraqi people, that there loved ones were killed on the basis of 'seriously flawed' intelligence gathered and acted upon in good faith by politicians and public servants who will not bear any of the consequences of their decisions?

There is something very wrong with our system of government.