Tony Benn missed his chance Pip Wilson http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/ed5.html Saddam Hussein of Iraq was interviewed last weekend by the eminent British politician, Tony Benn (the longest-serving MP in the history of the British Labour Party), and the interview was broadacast last night on prime-time UK television. See http://uk.news.yahoo.com/030204/80/drkbj.html In the interview, Hussein (rather predictably) stated that his country has no weapons of mass destruction, and no links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organisation. I have not seen the interview, but I have heard parts of it on radio. From what I have heard, and my brief research on the Internet, it seems to me that Mr Benn missed an excellent opportunity to make the interview even more meaningful. Benn might well have asked Hussein to swear on the Muslim holy book, the Koran, that he was being truthful. Generally, in the Muslim world, an oath sworn on the Koran carries more weight than its counterpart in the more secularised Western world, an oath on the Bible. The Koran is highly revered by most Muslims. Most Muslim homes have a Koran wrapped in cloth, often an expensive silk cloth, and placed high somewhere in the dwelling, such as a high shelf. I have seen with my own eyes, when I was living with Afghans in Sydney, the remarkable reverence accorded this book even by non-religious Muslims. I have heard with my own ears stories of desecration of the book, both deliberate and accidental, and the dire consequences for the persons responsible. Even for the Koran to be dropped on the ground, or accidentally soiled, is a matter of grave concern. Some of my Muslim readers might correct me on this, but it seems to me that were Hussein to be asked to swear on the Koran, for him to do so dishonestly would draw the ire of a significant part of the Muslim world, including his own followers, his own generals, his subjugated people, and the citizenry and leadership of other Muslim nations. To swear in such a way would require a very great amount of consideration for the Iraqi dictator, and might give the rest of the world a greater insight into the truth. It is a great pity that Mr Benn wasted a unique opportunity on global television to press Hussein on this matter. Let's hope someone else forces the issue, but at this late stage in the aggression preparations of the Iraqi people's external enemies, it seems unlikely to happen. Abundance and gratitude, Pip Wilson Wilson's Almanac free daily ezine http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com Almost Prophetic Quotes free daily ezine http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/almost.html