Tony Blair Denies Iraq Violence Result Of 2003 Invasion

 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah

Jun 15, 2014

 Former British prime minister Tony Blair said on Sunday it was "profoundly wrong" to think that the 2003 Anglo-U.S. invasion of Iraq helped stoke the current crisis.

Blair was speaking on UK morning TV shows after writing a lengthy essay setting out how to respond to the Iraq crisis, including his belief that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was not the cause of the country's implosion.

He said: "We have to liberate ourselves from the notion that 'we' have caused this. We haven't. We can argue as to whether our policies at points have helped or not; and whether action or inaction is the best policy and there is a lot to be said on both sides. But the fundamental cause of the crisis lies within the region not outside it," he wrote.

Mr Blair said the idea that Iraq today would be stable if Saddam had been left in place was "simply not credible".

He said: "Some people will say 'well if we hadn't removed Saddam in 2003 we wouldn't have the problem today in Iraq and the reason I think that is profoundly mistaken is this: since 2011 there have been these Arab revolutions sweeping across the whole of the region - Tunisa, Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Bahrain, nextdoor to Iraq in Syria - and we can see what would have happened if we left Saddam there in 2003.

"We have left Bashar Assad in Syria. The result is that there have now in the last three years in Syria been virtually the same number of people killed in Syria as in the whole of Iraq. You have had nine million people displaced from Syria, you have chaos and instability being pushed across the region."

Iraq violence due to West's inaction in Syria, Tony Blair claims

He also called for some form of intervention in neighbouring Syria, warning that inaction would result in a threat to UK soil.Air strikes against the Assad regime had been on the table last summer over its use of chemical weapons but a Commons vote against the idea helped end the prospect of action.

"I understand all the reasons following Afghanistan and Iraq why public opinion was so hostile to involvement," Mr Blair wrote.

"Action in Syria did not and need not be as in those military engagements. But every time we put off action, the action we will be forced to take will be ultimately greater."

He wrote: "The moderate and sensible elements of the Syria opposition should be given the support they need; Assad should know he cannot win an outright victory; and the extremist groups, whether in Syria or Iraq, should be targeted, in coordination and with the agreement of the Arab countries.