I HOPE that anyone who believes the Iraqis were somehow better off living under the jackboot of Saddam, rather than the rickety peace they now have, had a good look at the pictures of those pathetic scraps of human remains, dug out of the mass grave this week.

Men herded together and machine-gunned down. Women shot in the face, clutching the bodies of their children, who were shot in the back of the neck.

We didn't have any pictures of these people as they met their deaths, as we do of the Iraq war victims now.

Their pleas for mercy were not broadcast with lip-smacking relish by Al-Jazeera TV. Their screams were not recorded by hacks from Radio 4's Today programme. No mass rallies, whinging phone calls to Five Live, or sanctimonious placards about Blood On Your Hands for the killers of these tragic families.

Little was done because very few people knew.

Yet it happened. Time and time again. And it only stopped when we declared war on the Saddam Hussein regime.

I don't care whether Saddam did or didn't have weapons of mass destruction. It is simply not relevant any more. He was a weapon of mass destruction and would have continued to be so, if he had not been stopped.

It's true that America and the West hardly covered themselves with glory, in the years leading up to the Iraq war. Too much business being done, too much money being made, too many blind eyes, being turned.

But Saddam has gone. And, however you play it, that is good news for the people of Iraq.

For God's sake let's stop beating ourselves up over this one. Let's stop having endless inquiries and trying to wring meaningless apologies out of Tony Blair, who knows damn well he's been put on notice.

Let's honour our soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice and ensure their families will be looked after.

Let's get it sorted and build a decent Iraq, which can govern itself democratically.

And, whatever we do, let's take a penetrating look at all our foreign policies and ensure that we are not repeating the mistakes that lead to all this.

We could start by poking our nose into Zimbabwe.

First published: Oct 16