Just Say Noam!

I ended up embroiled in an argument on a bike forum over the Lib Dems performance prior to and during the Iraq War...with another poster called Toontra.
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12664285&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20

Here's the main points again

an article from the Guardian prior to the invasion showing how weak - or non-existent - the Lib Dems stance against the war was:

apparent split within Nato over Iraq.
The row within Nato, which threatens to derail US plans for a military invasion of Iraq, flared yesterday when France, Germany and Belgium blocked a move to send Nato missile batteries to defend Turkey in the event of a war.
In an emergency answer the armed forces minister, Adam Ingram, tried to defend Tony Blair's handling of both Nato and the US administration for nearly an hour.
But Conservatives shouted "shame" as Mr Ingram reported to MPs on the affair, angered that the secretary of state for defence, Geoff Hoon, was not in the chamber to answer questions.
However, some Tories and many Labour backbenchers applauded France and Germany's sceptical stance.
The former Labour shadow foreign minister, Gerald Kaufman, described Donald Rumsfeld, the American secretary of state for defence, as "like a bull in a china shop".
Labour's leading anti-war campaigner, Jeremy Corbyn, said the French position "reflects a desire for peace rather than war", but …
And here’s the clincher…
Paul Keetch, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, made the Lib Dem line clearer by saying "France and Germany have made their point and should back down now".