 NO wonder that the Labour leadership has done all it can to prevent any discussion of the Iraq war at its party conference.
An ongoing conflict that has already brought about the deaths of 95 British troops, over 1,900 US service personnel and well over 100,000 Iraqis ought to have been the central concern of conference.
Not only because of the loss of life, not only on account of the billions of pounds wasted there that could have been spent on state pensions, education, overseas aid and a host of other civilian programmes, but because the entire blood-soaked experience was based on a pack of lies.
Tony Blair tried to inveigle other European countries into backing George W Bush's invasion plans by telling them that Saddam Hussein was producing weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Blair knew that this was untrue, which is why he fiddled evidence to back up his case and why he and the US president forced UN weapons inspectors to withdraw.
Both men knew that the exhaustive search carried out by the inspectors was already indicating that Iraq had no WMD, removing any pretext for a just war.
So they just went ahead and did it, ignoring the UN, international law and concern for the suffering Iraqi people. Those who launched it are war criminals, who aren't even prepared to answer to their own party, shamelessly censoring motions that could have opened a discussion on Iraq.
Only one speaker, T&G assistant general secretary Barry Camfield, was able to raise the matter and his devastating assessment of the bloody quagmire in which the War Cabinet has bogged our country down voiced delegates' widespread unease.
They know that there is no truth in Jack Straw's assertion that Britain's 8,000 troops are in Iraq to help Iraqis towards security. They are there at the behest of President Bush and new Labour is ready to keep them there until told that they can go.
That decision must be taken out of the hands of the war criminals. Our troops must come home without further delay.
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