Butcher of Baghdad or Spin Merchant from Islington?

JUDGING by the opinion polls in Britain most people are still undecided whether they would support military action against Saddam Hussein. The march through the streets of London on Saturday was a march for peace, an opinion shared by most. But when the question of “how do you deal with Saddam,” is posed there are a large number of different opinions with military action, as the last resort, often being mentioned. I will be honest I myself am still undecided. But thankfully on Thursday night I heard one of the simplest formulas to get your thoughts and opinions in some kind of order and come to a conclusion. It came from that notable author Frederick Forsyth who has unfortunately been shelved by the BBC. According to Forsyth it all comes down to a question of trust. “Do you trust democratically elected Tony Blair when he says that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction and is a danger to world peace or do you trust Saddam Hussein, whose track record speaks for itself.” In other words according to Mr. Forsyth we should trust Tony Blair. But the question is do we trust Tony Blair and this is why I find Mr. Forsyth's observation so interesting because I think that a considerable number of people in Britain don't trust the Prime Minister and this is the problem. The years of spin are taking their toll. It is extraordinary when you think about it. Saddam or Tony Blair, the PM should win hands down. But he isn't. It's like having a ballot paper which states do you want to vote for the Butcher of Baghdad or the Spin Merchant from Islington.

Simple isn't it.... or is it?