Blair says no regrets for removing Saddam
Former British prime minister Tony Blair said Friday he had no
regrets about removing Saddam Hussein after delivering a robust defence
of the 2003 invasion of Iraq at a public inquiry into the war. Rounding
off his day-long evidence session, Blair said he accepted
“responsibility but not a regret for removing Saddam,” insisting the
Iraqi leader was a “monster” who had “threatened not just the region but
the world.”As he left the London hearing, there were shouts of “liar”
and “you’re a murderer” from the public gallery, where some of the
relatives of the 179 British troops killed in Iraq watched his
appearance.
In earlier testimony, Blair denied striking a “covert” deal with then
US president George W. Bush over the war, but said he had been convinced
Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and had to be tackled.“The
decision I took and frankly would take again was if there was any
possibility that he could develop weapons of mass destruction, we should
stop him,” he said.
Almost seven years after the invasion and six months after British
troops left Iraq, Blair’s decision to go to war remains highly
controversial, and hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside the
inquiry venue.
Inside, sitting before the panel in a navy blue suit and red tie,
Blair gave a typically assured account of his conduct, defending the
intelligence that made the case for war and insisting Iraq was a better
place without Saddam.He was asked whether he had pledged Britain’s
support for war during an April 2002 meeting with Bush at the
president’s ranch in Crawford, Texas — 11 months before the British
parliament voted for military action.Blair denied this, saying he had
told Bush “we are going to be with you in confronting and dealing with
this threat” of Iraqi WMD. -AFP
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