Blair feared bigger attack than 9/11
Source: Agencies |
January 30, 2010, Saturday
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Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged yesterday that Saddam Hussein didn't become a bigger threat after September 11, 2001, but said his perception of the risk posed by terrorists acquiring weapons of mass destruction was dramatically changed by the attacks.
Blair told Britain's Iraq Inquiry that his contentious decision to back the 2003 United States-led invasion of Iraq was inspired by fears of another, even deadlier, terror attack.
"It wasn't that objectively he (Saddam) had done more, it was that our perception of the risk had shifted," Blair said. "If those people inspired by this religious fanaticism could have killed 30,000, they would have. From that moment Iran, Libya, North Korea, Iraq... all of this had to be brought to an end.
"The primary consideration for me was to send an absolutely powerful, clear and unremitting message that after September 11 if you were a regime engaged in WMD (weapons of mass destruction), you had to stop."
Clutching a sheath of documents, a tense-looking Blair sat down in a London conference center to answer questions from the Iraq Inquiry, a wide-ranging investigation commissioned by the government to scrutinize the behind-the-scenes machinations from 2001 through Britain's decision to join the costly and unpopular Iraq war.
Blair was questioned about charges that his government was so determined to topple the Iraqi dictator that they exaggerated the content of intelligence reports on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction. He was pressed on when exactly he offered US President George W Bush support for an invasion.
The former British ambassador to Washington, Christopher Meyer, has said it appeared that an agreement was "signed in blood" by Bush and Blair at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002.
"The only commitment I gave (at Crawford) was a commitment to deal with Saddam," Blair said. He said he told Bush "we will be with them in dealing with this threat."
As Blair testified, demonstrators outside the convention hall read aloud the names of civilians and military personnel killed in Iraq.
"The Iraqi people are having to live every day with aggression, division, and atrocities," said protester Saba Jaiwad, an Iraqi who opposed the war. "Blair should... be taken to The Hague to face criminal charges because he has committed crimes against the Iraqi people."
Blair acknowledged that the decision to join the war had met with opposition in the country.
Blair told Britain's Iraq Inquiry that his contentious decision to back the 2003 United States-led invasion of Iraq was inspired by fears of another, even deadlier, terror attack.
"It wasn't that objectively he (Saddam) had done more, it was that our perception of the risk had shifted," Blair said. "If those people inspired by this religious fanaticism could have killed 30,000, they would have. From that moment Iran, Libya, North Korea, Iraq... all of this had to be brought to an end.
"The primary consideration for me was to send an absolutely powerful, clear and unremitting message that after September 11 if you were a regime engaged in WMD (weapons of mass destruction), you had to stop."
Clutching a sheath of documents, a tense-looking Blair sat down in a London conference center to answer questions from the Iraq Inquiry, a wide-ranging investigation commissioned by the government to scrutinize the behind-the-scenes machinations from 2001 through Britain's decision to join the costly and unpopular Iraq war.
Blair was questioned about charges that his government was so determined to topple the Iraqi dictator that they exaggerated the content of intelligence reports on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction. He was pressed on when exactly he offered US President George W Bush support for an invasion.
The former British ambassador to Washington, Christopher Meyer, has said it appeared that an agreement was "signed in blood" by Bush and Blair at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002.
"The only commitment I gave (at Crawford) was a commitment to deal with Saddam," Blair said. He said he told Bush "we will be with them in dealing with this threat."
As Blair testified, demonstrators outside the convention hall read aloud the names of civilians and military personnel killed in Iraq.
"The Iraqi people are having to live every day with aggression, division, and atrocities," said protester Saba Jaiwad, an Iraqi who opposed the war. "Blair should... be taken to The Hague to face criminal charges because he has committed crimes against the Iraqi people."
Blair acknowledged that the decision to join the war had met with opposition in the country.
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