Changing the reasons for war

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I have an excerpt from a speech for you:

"I have been looking at the various objectives and reasons that the government have given to the House of Commons for making war on Iraq, and it really is desirable that when a nation makes war upon another nation it should be quite clear why it does so. It should not keep changing the reasons as time goes on. There is, in fact, no correspondence whatsoever between the reasons given today and the reasons set out by the prime minister at the beginning."

Makes interesting reading doesn't it. Although I must admit to some deception on my part. You see, that paragraph is not from a speech on the current Iraq war, but one about the Suez crisis made in 1956: I have substituted Iraq for Egypt in the first sentence, yet the whole still holds true. Sobering.

Comments

Unknown said…
Very interesting. How did you find that? Of course, Eden was forced out by Suez but politicians today seem much more robust.
05 May, 2007 15:28
Dave Miller said…
Courtesy of The Guardian which has been running a series: Great speeches of the 20th century. I just picked it up and had a quick scan, that paragraph jumped out.
05 May, 2007 15:56
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