BBC News Video & Article, 15 June 2014 - Tony Blair: We didnt cause Iraq crisis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 2003 invasion of Iraq is not to blame for the violent insurgency now gripping the country, former UK prime minister Tony Blair has said. He told the BBC there would still be a major problem in Iraq even without the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003. He insisted the current crisis was an issue that affects us all and urged more western intervention in the area. Critics have rejected the comments as bizarre with one accusing Mr Blair of washing his hands of responsibility. Mr Blair said the idea that Iraq today would be stable if Saddam had been left in place was simply not credible. Even if youd left Saddam in place in 2003, then when 2011 happened - and you had the Arab revolutions going through Tunisia and Libya and Yemen and Bahrain and Egypt and Syria - you would have still had a major problem in Iraq, he said. Indeed, you can see what happens when you leave the dictator in place, as has happened with Assad now. The problems dont go away . . . Michael Stephens, from the Royal United Services Institute, said the Iraq War had a part to play in the recent upsurge in violence I think Mr Blair is washing his hands of responsibility, he said. But at the same time, I do agree with him that we cant just ignore this. We do have some kind of role to play in terms of trying to make sure that both Iraq and Syria do not fragment and just move on into sort of unending violence. Sir Christopher Meyer, Britains ambassador to the US from 1997 to 2003, said the handling of the campaign against Saddam Hussein was perhaps the most significant reason for the current sectarian violence . . .
Posted on: Sun, 15 Jun 2014 12:11:50 +0000
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