Bush is down - now get Blair out!

First Aznar, then Berlusconi and now Bush have received a hiding at the polls on account of the disastrous Iraq war. And there's not a single commentator who doubts that the drubbing Bush's Republicans got in the mid-term elections this week is a result of anything other than Iraq. While joining the US anti-war movement in demanding a reversal of policy from the White House, Respect is also firmly turning the spotlight on Blair and the British government.

George Galloway says "The sight of architects of the invasion of Iraq, leading neo-conservatives, falling over themselves to distance themselves from the decision to go to war is something to behold. Kenneth "it'll be a cakewalk" Adelman, Richard "prince of darkness" Pearle, and finally Donald Rumsfeld, not apologetic but forced to fall on his sword. I know the bible talks of greater joy in heaven when a sinner repents but I’m afraid I don’t have the forgiveness of a St. Francis of Assisi: all I see is grotesque faces splattered in the blood of the 655,000 Iraqis who have most likely been killed by the war and occupation.

"And none is more grotesque than Blair's. We in the anti-war movement in Britain have a task of historic proportions. The desperate search by sections of the US and British establishments for an exit strategy does not guarantee a decline in violence. It could portend a major escalation before bowing to the inevitable. In Britain we face a supine parliament. Just 12 MPs of the governing party rebelled last week and voted for a mild motion calling for an inquiry into the Iraq war. If the monumental blunder of Iraq can start to claim political scalps in the US it should encourage everyone here to redouble their efforts to force MPs to break with this criminal policy.

"In every college, school, neighbourhood, place of worship, workplace and community we need to recreate a surge of active opposition to the war that can shatter the complacency and arrogance of this decaying government."