1. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert - with only 3% support - refuses to step down despite a report blaming him for "severe failure" in his handling of the war in Lebanon.
2. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz - with only the support of President Bush and a handful of African countries - refuses to step down despite damning allegations of corruption and repeated calls for his resignation from around the globe.
3. US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - with only President Bush supporting him - refuses to step down despite evidence that he manipulated his department for partisan political purposes and then lied about it under oath.
4. President Bush - with only 30% support - insists that he will veto the Democrats "War Bill" despite the fact that most US citizens want their troops out of Iraq, most Iraqis want US troops out of Iraq, and even those who support the war are not able to articulate an exit strategy, or a plan for victory.
5. Tony Blair - with only 22% popularity - finally prepares to step down next week, or late June, or early July, or...
6. Australian PM John Howard - clawing his way back up into the low 40's in the polls - insists that nuclear energy is the solution to Australia's energy and environment needs (despite widespread public opposition), insists that we must stay in Iraq to save George Bush from embarrassment (despite widespread public opposition and a concession from his own Defence minister that the war cannot be won), insists that his IR platform is best for the country (despite widespread public opposition) and refuses to discuss handing over his leadership (despite a looming landslide defeat).
Then you have people like George Tenet, who insists that his "slam dunk" comment was taken out of context and falsely applied to Saddam's WMDs (even though he admits he used the term to describe the wider case for invading Iraq), or Condoleeza Rice (labelled the most ineffective Secretary of State in US history) who insists that Bush did not want war with Iraq, despite numerous quotes from Bush himself proving that he did.
You have to wonder what people living outside the broad, benevolent umbrella of Western "democracy" make of such stories, don't you?
The common thread linking all the people above is war, and the blatant lies that they used to justify their immoral invasions of other countries. The Iraq warmongers have foisted the greatest lie, the greatest fraud, that the world has ever seen, and they are locked into their web of lies now, desperate to keep the curtains closed on their high crimes and misdemeanors. They all sound ridiculous, of course, but they know they have too much to lose if they take even one small step backwards. And so they cling to power, even by their fingertips, snarling and spitting venom at anyone who dares challenge their monstrous logic.
If our Western societies are ever to regain the prestige and honour they once enjoyed, we must hold all these criminals to account and show the world - and ourselves - that we remain committed to the rule of law, to international ideals of peace and justice, and to basic, common, everyday standards of decency.
UPDATE: Just in from SMH:
Two Israelis in three think their prime minister should quit after a damning inquiry found he rushed into an ill-judged war in Lebanon last year.And from IHT, is Wolfie looking for an exit?
But Ehud Olmert, as widely predicted, is toughing it out, accepting responsibility for "many mistakes" that left over 1,300 people dead in 34 days of fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas but insisting he is the best man to put them right.
A survivor of decades at the heart of Israel's combative politics, he declared himself "indestructible" last month.
Paul Wolfowitz defended himself vigorously on Monday, declaring that it would be "unjust and frankly hypocritical" for the World Bank's board to find him guilty of ethical lapses. But he also hinted that he would discuss whether to resign as bank president if the board cleared him of misconduct.
