Declassified secret documents describe U.S. and Iraqi consultations about Iran’s 1984 draft resolution seeking United Nations Security Council condemnation of Iraq’s chemical weapons use: Iraq conveyed several requests to the U.S. about the resolution, including its preference for a lower-level response and one that did not name any country in connection with chemical warfare; the final result complied with Iraq’s requests. (US National Security Archive)

During the Iran-Iraq war the US, Reagan and Rumsfeld supplied arms to Saddam Hussein and stood by while he gassed Iranians. Not content with that, they watered down (see above) the Iranian attempt to condemn the use of chemical weapons.

Now, in 2013, the US is preparing to go to war (yes, war) because of the use of chemical weapons by the murderer Assad. Everybody agrees that gassing people is revolting and disgusting, but the fact is that even more innocent people are sure to be killed, and you can be certain that Assad and his corrupt cronies will not be among them. The hypocrisy of the US posture is hardly assuaged by the deaths of scores of innocent women and children by drone attack in Pakistan and elsewhere.

The Arab world is in the midst of a civil war between Sunnis and Shia. Religion is the pretext, but also the cause. A major cause has been that Muslims reject family planning (and the education of women). The result has been a massive population bulge among young people, who have neither jobs nor hope. The region is a tinderbox. Religion trumps common sense!

Now keep out of it. We have failed in Iraq, in Afghanistan and in Libya. How many failures does it take to get even American nationalists to admit that we have little hope of winning in the Middle East? Epicurus, I believe, given the situation, would have decided that the British Parliament, without the benefit of the report of the inspectors or of a UN debate, did the grown-up, and prudent, thing.

For the Americans, it would not be hypocritical to bring the issue up before the UN, and in doing so admit past mistakes.