London // Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said the US-led invasion of Iraq was partly responsible for the emergence of ISIL. But he insisted that toppling dictator Saddam Hussein had been the right thing to do.
Mr Blair told CNN that “there are elements of truth” in the assertion that the war caused the rise of ISIL.
“Of course you can’t say those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015,” he said. He added that the Arab Spring had also played a role in creating instability that allowed the extremist group to flourish.
Mr Blair’s decision to take Britain into the Iraq war — based on what turned out to be false claims about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction — remains hugely divisive, and contributed to his Labour Party’s loss of power in 2010.
Mr Blair insisted that removing Saddam was the right thing to do, but apologised, as he has before, for failures in post-war planning.
“I apologise for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong,” he said in the interview to be broadcast on Sunday.
“I also apologise for some of the mistakes in planning and, certainly, our mistake in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime.”
A public inquiry into decisions and mistakes in Britain’s planning and execution of the war began in 2009 but has yet to issue its findings. The process has been held up while people criticised in the report are given a chance to respond.
Critics of the war hope the inquiry will conclude that Mr Blair was determined to back President George W Bush in his invasion plans, whether or not it was supported by the public, parliament or legal opinion.
*Agencies
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Chatham House Rule
A mark of Chatham House’s influence 100 years on since its founding, was Moscow’s formal declaration last month that it was an “undesirable
organisation”.
The depth of knowledge and academics that it drew on
following the Ukraine invasion had broadcast Mr Putin’s chicanery.
The institute is more used to accommodating world leaders,
with Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher among those helping it provide
authoritative commentary on world events.
Chatham House was formally founded as the Royal Institute of
International Affairs following the peace conferences of World War One. Its
founder, Lionel Curtis, wanted a more scientific examination of international affairs
with a transparent exchange of information and ideas.
That arena of debate and analysis was enhanced by the “Chatham
House Rule” states that the contents of any meeting can be discussed outside Chatham
House but no mention can be made identifying individuals who commented.
This has enabled some candid exchanges on difficult subjects
allowing a greater degree of free speech from high-ranking figures.
These meetings are highly valued, so much so that
ambassadors reported them in secret diplomatic cables that – when they were
revealed in the Wikileaks reporting – were thus found to have broken the rule. However,
most speeches are held on the record.
Its research and debate has offered fresh ideas to
policymakers enabling them to more coherently address troubling issues from climate
change to health and food security.
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