IRAQ: Western governments are lying to the public about the risk of terrorist attacks in the same way that they lied about the need for war in Iraq, the mother of a British soldier killed in the Iraqi conflict will tell a Dublin audience tonight.
Rose Gentle, who is having a similar impact in galvanising anti-war protest in the UK as Cindy Sheehan is in the US, said the recent London bombings were "connected" to the Britain's involvement in the invasion of Iraq.
"But Blair is trying to brush it under the carpet, just like he is brushing everything else under the carpet," Ms Gentle told The Irish Times. "My heart goes out to those people who lost loved ones in the London bombings. But this goes back to Blair. We need to bring our troops home."
She has become a vociferous campaigner against the war since her 19-year-old son, Gordon, was killed in Basra in June 2004. Last May, she ran unsuccessfully in the general election on an anti-war ticket against the armed forces minister, Adam Ingram.
Since then, she has spearheaded a legal bid to secure an independent inquiry into the lawfulness of the 2003 conflict.
Last month, a lawyer representing her and the families of 16 other soldiers killed in Iraq lodged papers at the High Court seeking a judicial review of the government's decision not to order an investigation into the legality of the war.
If successful, the legal bid could force Prime Minister Blair to give evidence in court on whether the government misled the public about weapons of mass destruction.
Ms Gentle said she was seeking to travel to the US shortly to meet Ms Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq last year and who attracted worldwide attention by camping outside George W. Bush's ranch in an attempt to secure a meeting with the US president. Ms Gentle said that Mr Blair had refused to meet her despite numerous requests.
