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10/19/2005:

"Former Law Lord Attacks 'Folly' of Iraq War"

The war with Iraq has made the world a more dangerous place and London a target for terrorist attack, according to one of Britain's most senior judges.

Lord Steyn, who retired last month as a judge sitting in the UK's highest court, described the invasion of Iraq as "military folly" and accused the Government of "scraping the legal barrel" in trying to justify it.

The former law lord told an audience of lawyers and civil rights campaigners in London that it was wrong for the Prime Minister to have called the rule of law a "game".

He said: "The maintenance of the rule of law is not a game. It is about access to justice, fundamental human rights and democratic values."

He added: "After the recent dreadful bombings in London we were asked to believe that the Iraq war did not make London and the world a more dangerous place. Surely, on top of everything else, we do not have to listen to a fairy-tale."
independent.co.uk