Joan Smith in today's Independent:
Actually, the correct term for those who carry out these atrocities isn't fighters or insurgents; people who carry out indiscriminate attacks on civilians are terrorists. This isn't a fashionable view among opponents of the war, who appear to regard every atrocity merely as further evidence that George Bush and Tony Blair have blood on their hands. According to this view, everything that's happened since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein is "our" fault...There are some clever people about who will tell you that responsibility isn't zero sum: Bush and Blair bear responsibility for what's now happening in Iraq even if others do too. They only fail to follow through on the 'others do too' part of this idea, reserving all their blame, all their ire, all their passion, for... Bush and Blair. (Thanks: BC.)The problem for me, as someone who argued against the Iraq war, is that I don't think "we" should bear all the blame for this ghastly sectarian conflict.
