“ I am sorry” are the three most powerful words of the English language. Few people imagine the amount of relief and happiness their utterance generates. Put in the mouth of a powerful person like the British Prime Minister in the context of Iraq invasion they have a hugely healing effect. They have the potential to bridge the huge civilizational divide caused by the Iraq war. To think that a person so sensitive as Mr Blair does not realise the colossal misjudgement about Iraq is to insult his intelligence. Any remaining doubts must have been demolished by the recently published Iraq Survey Group report commissioned by President Bush involving 1200 inspectors who scoured the whole of Iraq under the auspices of US. According to it not only there were no WMDs in Iraq, there was no evidence of any such programme. Saddam was at his weakest. If fighting terrorism was the true motive of Anglo-American Alliance, it may have been better served by making Saddam an ally as nobody hated Osama more than Saddam Hussain.

The British Prime Minister cannot be oblivious to the fact that every stated goal of the war has been badly defeated. British lives have never been lost in a cause that was so unworthy. The terrorist threat has never been so great. Iraq has never been so devastated. The “liberators” have never been so despised. Al Qaeda has never been stronger. In fact the war has handed over the whole of middle east to Al Qaeda on a platter. World peace has never been more threatened. Oil which was the main trigger for the war has never been scarcer and costlier. Civil liberties have never been so flagrantly trampled. A famous singer was whisked off stage and removed from the hotel in Las Vegas because she praised Bush-baiter Michael Moore. Stripping and finger printing visitors and other paranoid security measures, have made a mockery of freedom and globalisation. It has diverted the funds and focus from developmental and environmental agenda, put more people in poverty trap and widened the disparities making the world even more insecure. The excessive security and military expenditure has stunted America's own economic growth and locked more Americans outside the ‘American Dream' with decaying housing, abysmal healthcare and poor education. It has signalled the death of governance as we know it.

The problem of not owning up to one's mistakes and learning from them is not unique to politicians. Sir Philip Watts and many of his ilk suffered from the same ailment. Shell knew of the error in reserves since 1998. Its prompt admission would have caused no loss to anyone. There hangs the tail of the great human tragedy. Humans have denied themselves the only chance of self-improvement. Own the error, correct it, prevent its re-occurrence, apologise and move on. Thus keep getting better and better everyday. As Einstein said, “it is not the mistake that you make that causes the damage. It is the mistake you make of defending the first mistake that causes the serious damage”. All the corporate collapses that we have been witness to during the past few years, did not necessarily occur with an intent to defraud. These were the outcomes of simple misjudgements which would be an integral part of a fast moving economy fired by wrenching change and radical innovation. Had these errors been owned and admitted as soon as they occurred, the concerned corporations and their bosses would never have been the victims of the ignominy, humiliation and disgrace that followed.

Companies have lost many a brilliant and honest heads simply because they tried to hide their mistakes. Richard Nixon, the late US president who died in disgrace is reported to have said: ‘You can disobey all the ten commandments provided you make sure you adhere to the eleventh commandment which says, “thou shalt not be found out”. The internet economy is wicked. The only thing that is certain in it is: thou shalt be found out. It will be a monumental loss for Britain if its Prime Minister who has done so much to push forward the British economy, the human agenda, environmental action and third world causes, has to follow the fate of his Spanish counterpart. There are few people in the world who can match Mr Blair in communicating courage, radiating conviction and demonstrating grit. It is nonsense to suggest that his admission of guilt in collaborating with US to invade Iraq without the sanction of United Nations will amount to political harakiri. The example of two other great men of history - Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi should hearten him. Both became far more effective leaders when they publicly owned and admitted their mistakes. In fact it is the courage of owning their mistakes that sets apart the true leaders from demagogues.

Mr Blair's apology will not only raise his own stature, it will save lives and release world tension. It will help the global economy enormously. It will set a precedent worthy of emulation by all corporate leaders. Markets will not lose outstanding CEOs & chairmen simply because they used ingenious ways to hide the truth, turned honest failures into criminal frauds, destroyed shareholder values, ruined small investors and invited jail sentences upon themselves. As corporations begin to realise that acknowledgement of failures are pathways to betterment, more and more people will start owning them. Failure will become a badge of honour. First time in human history, human lives will not be wasted in desperately trying not to get caught. People will start getting real and not act the part. They will begin to walk to talk and become truly transparent. Transparency will restore trust. It will cement families and build communities. Boards will recognise the value of rewarding good tries. They will say hasta-la-vista to glossy quarterly reports and engineered balance sheets. All eyes will be on long-term value creation. Stock markets will no longer be regarded as casinos, a sure way to ruin. Small investors will feel assured that time has come for them to bring their well earned savings to the stock market and become part of the prosperity, that has left them in the cold so far.

Good thing about these three words is that it is never too late to utter them.

Dr Madhav Mehra