Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Bush: My mistake with the WMDs

But no paper thinks it's worth the front page. Can you believe it?

Iraq is no longer front page news. Even when the biggest architect of the war makes his retreat in public. In an interview with the American network ABC news, George W Bush admitted that "Iraq is his biggest regret" and that "his biggest mistake was to believe that there were WMDs".

Just over a year ago it would have been a bombshell. There'd have been more chance of the Pope owning up to wearing a condom. But today, with the exception of the Guardian, no other British paper gives Bush's incredible admission any relevance. Can you believe it? Not even The Mirror, a paper that made a fortune on the grounds of its opposition to the war. And that's in spite of a country being literally torn to pieces on the basis of such false allegations, over a million dead and Britain's most controversial involvement in a war for at least half a century.

Not to mention that a lot could be said about Tony Blair, now the only remaining cheerleader for the war, cashing it in on the public speech circuit. Pedantic details, aren't they?

It's worth pointing out that the European press is making a much bigger deal out of Bush's admission. It's front page news in Spain (see El Pais), Italy (la Repubblica, for instance) and France (Le Figaro). I guess Britain's too busy with Britney Spears losing it on the X-Factor, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and the Justice for Baby P crusade. That's how collective goldfish memory is fostered. Until it becomes run of the mill.

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