This is the next conspiracy theory that Tony Blair waved away. Tam Dalyell asked him for an unambiguous assurance we would not do it. The Prime Minister said there were “no plans whatsoever” to do so. In the prime ministerial lexicon, such a tentative assertion is practically a boast. For instance, when asked if he was sure there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he said he had “absolutely no doubt at all”. That level of conviction means he thinks there’s an outside chance someone will find something to back him up.

And as the military is offering $1m cash (in Swiss francs or US dollars) for information leading to the discovery of the same, it is pretty certain that demand will lead to supply (anyone who can smuggle fresh VX into the country will be quickly enriched ­ Russia, I’m looking at you!) Alex Salmond got the Prime Minister to admit the truth. He asked for an assurance that UK forces would in no circumstances participate in an attack on Syria. The Prime Minister said: “We couldn’t pin weapons of mass destruction on Iraq but we invaded them anyway, and we’re going to use the same excuse on Syria, and maybe even Iran; make no mistake, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz have a plan to run the Middle East, and I’m going to sell it.” Interesting, wasn’t it? He phrased it differently, of course. His precise words were: “There are no plans to attack Syria.” But we knew what he meant NB: Mr Blair’s insistence on one power centre in the world. Doesn’t this sound like a reich to last a thousand years? simoncarr75 hotmail
More from Simon Carr. So now Syria is in America’s gunsights.

First it’s Iraq, Israel’s most powerful enemy, possessor of weapons of mass destruction – none of which has been found. Now it’s Syria, Israel’s second most powerful enemy, possessor of weapons of mass destruction, or so President George Bush Junior tells us. No word of that possessor of real weapons of mass destruction, Israel – the number of its nuclear warheads in the Negev are now accurately listed – whose Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has long been complaining that Damascus is the “centre of world terror”

So now Syria is in America’s gunsights. First came the US claim that Damascus was sending gas masks to the Iraqi army. The Syrians denied it – but what if it’s true? Why shouldn’t an Arab neighbour offer Iraqi soldiers protective clothing during an American invasion which has no international legitimacy? Then Syria was accused of sending, or allowing, Arab “volunteers” to cross into Iraq to fight the Americans This is much harder for the Syrians to deny.