Was Goh Chok Tong wearing blinkers when he supported US-led invasion of Iraq?

By: Tan Wah Piow

In less than 36 hours time, Singaporeans will know whether the man who was paid very much more than President Bush was wearing glasses, or blinkers when he made a major foreign policy statement in 2003 to support the US led invasion of Iraq.

He is Goh Chok Tong, the Prime Minister of Singapore at the time of the Iraq War.

He said: “It is clear to everyone, unless that person wears blinkers, that this is a war to remove the weapons of mass destruction from Saddam Hussein.” He had then offered Singapore support of the military invasion.

After 7 years, the U.K. Chilcot inquiry will release its 12 volume, 2 million words report on the Iraq War. It will be followed by a Debate in UK Parliament on Wednesday,

The Chilcot report is expected to determine whether the British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s belief that Saddam Hussein was holding weapons of mass destruction was backed by evidence. It was based on this claim that Tony Blair ordered military intervention in Iraq.

The report will also determine if Tony Blair had decided to follow George Bush’s military adventure to invade Iraq regardless of evidence, and without UN approval.

If the report points to any potential commission of war crimes, it would have serious implications to Tony Blair. A number of anti-Iraq-war groups are waiting to plough through this report for evidence to commence prosecution against Tony Blair.

For the people in Singapore, they will soon know if their Prime Minister at the time was wearing blinkers, and whether he was aiding and abetting an illegal military venture.

The PAP Government had at the time offered to send personnel to support the US-led coalition troops in Iraq.

There is hardly any debate on this issue in Singapore.