It is time to set the record straight. The United States Congress never voted for the Iraq war. Rather, Congress voted for a resolution in October 2002 which unlawfully transferred to the president the decision-making power of whether to launch a first-strike invasion of Iraq. The United States Constitution vests the awesome power of deciding whether to send the nation into war solely in the United States Congress.

Claims that dozens of politicians, including some from prominent anti-war countries such as France, had taken bribes to support Saddam Hussein are to be investigated by the Iraqi authorities. The US-backed Iraqi Governing Council decided to check after an independent Baghdad newspaper, al-Mada, published a list which it said was based on oil ministry documents.

But the war over the war in Iraq isn't really about the facts, or 45 minutes, or what went wrong with the intelligence, or who believed what when. It's a titanic clash of beliefs, between those who think the war was generally a good thing, and those who think it was rash, or dangerous, or opportunistic, or colonialist, or downright evil. It is not, mainly, about Iraq at all. It is a giant referendum on George Bush and the United States, and on those who chose to stand with them. And of one thing you can be sure: That war won't end any time soon.

Lord Hutton has flung the whitewash around with a copiousness, a completeness, which must have surprised even the inhabitants of Downing Street.
We might direct his lordship?s attention to the way in which the very title of the document was changed. Originally it was entitled ?Iraq?s Programmes for Weapons of Mass Destruction?, which had the whiff of accuracy about it. Later it became ?Iraq?s Weapons of Mass Destruction?

And, similarly, at every juncture, Lord Hutton stuck the boot into the BBC and, while he was about it, Dr David Kelly. For Hutton, Kelly?s previous eminence and chance of a knighthood were destroyed by his regrettable decision to talk to journalists, and ? the implication is ? he got what he deserved. Which is a strong message to be sent out to any other public servants who feel appalled at the way politicians use or abuse their services.

A third said they were now less likely to vote for Blair, compared to three percent who said it was more likely.

John Howard said yesterday that the British report clearing the Blair Government of claims it "sexed up" its intelligence on Saddam Hussein's weapons also exonerated him. "Those who have accused us of taking Australia to war on a lie owe me as much an apology as those who made equal accusations against Tony Blair owe him an apology," the Prime Minister said.

Asked if he was concerned that intelligence warnings that Iraq had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction appeared to have been incorrect, Mr Howard said: "It's still too early to make a final judgment. If you wait for proof beyond all reasonable doubt, as I said more than a year ago, you face a potential Pearl Harbour situation."