Andy Munro comments ahead of the Chilcot Report, due to be published later today.
Life’s all about opinions and while I can’t deny that Tony Blair has a smug, almost punchable, face, I don’t think that he went into the Iraq war with criminal intent.
It was, of course, a misjudgement but, then again, hindsight is a wonderful thing. The armed forces are also under the spotlight but while all is not exactly fair in love and war – and our ‘boys’ aren’t all angels – it’s a harsh man who would cast a stone at ordinary soldiers under extreme duress.
A final thought, is the hidden racism of many of the intelligentsia. They say, we shouldn’t interfere if a dictator brings stability to a country and should leave well alone. The implicit suggestion here as I see it is that in some African and Arabian countries, the indigenous populations will inevitably descend into warring mayhem because of their cultures unless we in the ‘civilized’ West step in to bring the tyrants to book.
I’ve read a few things on living under the Assad regime in Syria and how, all too frequently, the mildest critics are slung into prison and tortured. This seems just the sort of fate that would face some of the ‘intelligent’ critics in this country should our own circumstances be different.
I don’t think it’s an experience that they would enjoy so before they criticise the ploy of intervention, they should put themselves in the shoes of the oppressed.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/04/phone-call-bush-blair-failed-iraq
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/05/tony-blair-iraq-war-chilcot
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/05/governed-iraq-lack-of-planning-chilcot-war
http://www.middleeasteye.net/essays/not-chilcot-report-i-735780679
He’s guilty of hubris and being in awe of power. He broke international law by going to war to force regime change on a sovereign state on the false pretext of removing WMD.
Andy. The main thrust of my piece was twofold….pointing out that whilst it was a poor decision in hindsight with a foolhardy badly prepared plan of action it was not, in my opinion, an evil intentioned act. Furthermore, I still think there are too many self righteous ‘peacemakers’ who haven’t a clue what it’s like to live under a repressive regime and would soon be squealing if they did!
I agree. I don’t think there was ‘evil’ involved. Just incompetence, hubris and lies.
This is a good précis of the situation…..
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/09/iraq-war-after-blair-and-bush-met-the-tempo-changed
No need for hindsight, it was foresight that was lacking. Hans Blix repeatedly said that he could find no evidence of WMD and asked for more time. Clare Short warned of the need for a post-Saddam strategy and numerous middle eastern experts warned of the dangers of interfering in Sunni/Shia and tribal matters. Blair and Bush would not listen, their minds were made up long beforehand.