Today's Perler Nominee: William Shawcross

Whatever happened to dear William Shawcross? In the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq, it was almost impossible to turn on any television channel and not see the great sage gravely informing us of the mortal threat posed by Saddam Hussein and his Weapons of Mass Destruction. Now, strangely, he is nowhere to be seen. I wonder where he could have got to?

Here are two Shawcross gems, strong contenders I believe for a 'Perle' Award. The first is from the Guardian in February 2003. The second was written a year later, when Saddam's deadly WMD- yes, the ones we were told were so "'integral to his regime", still hadn't been found.........

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,901134,00.html
"the reality to remember is that Saddam will never voluntarily give up his weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as resolution 1441 and 16 other resolutions demand. They are integral to his sense of his regime. His record shows that he considers no cost too high to retain his biological, chemical and whatever exists of his nuclear capability. .....WMD are tied into his sense of survival and his sense of destiny.......
he (Saddam) saw his own survival as a victory over his enemies. Equally victorious has been his campaign to keep his WMD for the 12 years."

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/comment/0,12956,979085,00.html
"I am surprised that we have not yet found his WMD. But remember that they were always well hidden in the 1990s. I believe that the record and subsequent investigations will show that the government and the intelligence agencies acted properly in the face of a deadly, if unquantifiable, threat from Saddam."

UPDATE: In his own, kindly, inimitable way our good friend Stephen Pollard informs us that The Shawcross has been spotted, and has been spouting words of wisdom on the future of Iraq in the latest edition of The Spectator. Regarding face transplants Stephen, I'm sure when your Teofilo/Finsceal Beo double comes in, you'll be the first in the queue.

http://www.stephenpollard.net/003008.html