Why does the Iraq war still fascinate the politics of the present?

This week has seen confirmation that social mobility has stagnated, that the economic recovery is dangerously anaemic and that peace in Northern Ireland is threatened. Yet a conflict that was declared won nearly 7 years ago has been ever present on the frontpages. Bagehot is not at all surprised that the Iraq war remains definitive:

‘There is one way in which, despite the inquiry, Iraq has come to seem a less definitive issue: in Mr Brown’s handling of the public finances, it has a rival for the status of Labour’s worst mistake. Yet Iraq remains the most important single decision the government has made. Even taking a generous view of its behaviour—that it was cavalier and naive, rather than actively mendacious—the war remains an enormous stain. Those commentators who accept that verdict but think Mr Brown’s approach to, say, tax credits, somehow compensates, seem morally confused. Of course other issues matter too; but if you hate the war, you must surely now be seriously disenchanted with the warrior.