I do not accept that we have a moral obligation to ignore actions carried out in the name of democracy by a country with which we are friendly when those actions effectively undermine that principle. This is not to play down the horrors in Iraq, it is simply to say that when one introduces morality into political rhetoric one enters dangerous territory. While morality in politics is dangerous, though perhaps there should be more of it, selective morality is worse. There is no moral basis for suggesting that the Iraqi regime is much worse or more evil and threatening than half a dozen other regimes, some of which are allied to the United States of America. That cannot justify the scale of military action against Iraq that appears to be contemplated.