A View From London: Not

A View From London: Not all our European allies have fled our side. This editorial in the Times Online makes a case against a strategy of containment.

It is perfectly fair to ask why Saddam and Iraq now constitute a clear and present danger. It is not foolish to wonder whether political tools familiar from the Cold War era — containment and deterrence — cannot be deployed again on this occasion. The suggestion that UN inspectors should be offered more time, extra resources or a stronger mandate is seductive but mistaken. The doctrine of “pre-emption”, which the Bush Administration has adopted as its rationale for war, does appear sweeping in implication, but the potential tragedies being pre-empted are on a breathtaking scale.