Robin Cook's resignation speech and letter says it best.

Britain is being asked to embark on a war without agreement in any of the international bodies of which we are a leading partner - not NATO, not the European Union and, now, not the Security Council.

To end up in such diplomatic weakness is a serious reverse.

Only a year ago, we and the United States were part of a coalition against terrorism that was wider and more diverse than I would ever have imagined possible.

[Iraq] probably still has biological toxins and battlefield chemical munitions, but it has had them since the 1980s when US companies sold Saddam anthrax agents and the then British Government approved chemical and munitions factories.

Why is it now so urgent that we should take military action to disarm a military capacity that has been there for 20 years, and which we helped to create?

Why is it necessary to resort to war this week, while Saddam's ambition to complete his weapons programme is blocked by the presence of UN inspectors?

I only hope that the USA brings to its assumed role of global Imperator a modicum of wisdom. It's not just about making the homeland safe for big business, lining the pockets of friends and family, and wreaking vengeance on some while still shrinking from real and present danger. My kids are in this world. I'd like them to grow up with a feeling of proud internationalism. Today, there seems little chance of that.