Powell's doubts

That indeed further weakens President Bush's case. Curiously, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is still unmoved, being convinced that the weapons of mass destruction will be found today or tomorrow. It is a sad aspect of today's world politics, that leaders of established democracies, which have made significant contributions to human civilisation, are following policies not endorsed by the international community at large. And even when the policies are found to contain glaring flaws, they refuse to accept the truth. They have even made attempts to shape things according to their own needs. This sets an example not worth emulating, to say the least.

The moral burden of not finding WMD in Iraq could be enormous for the US and Britain, the chief proponents of WMD theory. The world has witnessed what the coalition forces have done to Iraq. Nevertheless, the thought of WMD ending up in the hands of a dictator was a neutralising factor as far as the opposition to the war was concerned. But what President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair are left with when such weapons have not been found in Iraq?

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The psychological and moral victory that the two world leaders were so eagerly looking forward to -- after the fall of Baghdad -- may elude them for ever. That is what one has to surmise from Colin Powell's words.