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WMD were not vital for war says ex-PM ahead of appearance at Chilcot inquiry.
Tony Blair has said he would have invaded Iraq even without evidence of weapons of mass destruction and would have found a way to justify the war to parliament and the public.
The former prime minister made the confession during an interview with Fern Britton, to be broadcast on Sunday on BBC1, in which he said he would still have thought it right to remove Saddam Hussein from power.
"If you had known then that there were no WMDs, would you still have gone on?" Blair was asked. He replied: "I would still have thought it right to remove him [Saddam Hussein]".
ignificantly, Blair added: "I mean obviously you would have had to use and deploy different arguments about the nature of the threat." He continued: "I can't really think we'd be better with him and his two sons in charge, but it's incredibly difficult. That's why I sympathise with the people who were against it [the war] for perfectly good reasons and are against it now, but for me, in the end I had to take the decision."
He explained it was "the notion of him as a threat to the region" because Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons against his own people.
Bush/Cheney started planning as soon as they took office. First question after 9-11 was "how can we blame this on Iraq?"
Tony Blair admits: I would have invaded Iraq anyway | UK news | The Guardian
Now we need Bush and Cheney to come forth and admit it.
WMD were not vital for war says ex-PM ahead of appearance at Chilcot inquiry.
Tony Blair has said he would have invaded Iraq even without evidence of weapons of mass destruction and would have found a way to justify the war to parliament and the public.
The former prime minister made the confession during an interview with Fern Britton, to be broadcast on Sunday on BBC1, in which he said he would still have thought it right to remove Saddam Hussein from power.
"If you had known then that there were no WMDs, would you still have gone on?" Blair was asked. He replied: "I would still have thought it right to remove him [Saddam Hussein]".
ignificantly, Blair added: "I mean obviously you would have had to use and deploy different arguments about the nature of the threat." He continued: "I can't really think we'd be better with him and his two sons in charge, but it's incredibly difficult. That's why I sympathise with the people who were against it [the war] for perfectly good reasons and are against it now, but for me, in the end I had to take the decision."
He explained it was "the notion of him as a threat to the region" because Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons against his own people.
And so it begins. Discuss.
Uhhhhhh...I don't see any direct quote from Blair stating "I would have invaded Iraq anyway." All I see is sensationalist reporting and a couple quotes from someone close to Blair that still don't say "I would have invaded Iraq anyway."
Goodness knows if a Democrat did such a thing, you'd be over this as much as you are all over Gunny.
Grow up and stop starting threads with the word 'discuss'. We are in school.... oh, wait, you are... Hmmmm. Ok. The rest of us are grown ups and don't need to be instructed to 'discuss'. Idiot.
Uhhhhhh...I don't see any direct quote from Blair stating "I would have invaded Iraq anyway." All I see is sensationalist reporting and a couple quotes from someone close to Blair that still don't say "I would have invaded Iraq anyway."
He said he would of found a way to justify the war to Parliament and the People. He would of not stopped his attempt to invade Iraq. Bush leading the way was perfect for Blair.
Bush/Cheney started planning as soon as they took office. First question after 9-11 was "how can we blame this on Iraq?"
Oh reeeeeally...I suppose your inside man who is best friends with Blair when he was the PM of the UK is telling you minute by minute what was transpiring at 10 Downing St. from 2002 till he left office.....must be nice to be privy to all that inside stuff....
Significantly, Blair added: "I mean obviously you would have had to use and deploy different arguments about the nature of the threat." He continued: "I can't really think we'd be better with him and his two sons in charge, but it's incredibly difficult. That's why I sympathise with the people who were against it [the war] for perfectly good reasons and are against it now, but for me, in the end I had to take the decision."
Though Blair has always argued that Iraq would be better off without Saddam Hussein, to parliament and the public, he always justified military action on the grounds that the Iraqi dictator was in breach of UN-backed demands that he abandon his weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programme.
Blair was "absolutely prepared to say he was willing to contemplate regime change if [UN-backed measures] did not work", Sir David Manning, Blair's former foreign policy adviser, told the inquiry. If it proved impossible to pursue the UN route, then Blair would be "willing to use force", Manning emphasised.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSHH!!!!!!! FOX NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZ!!!!! My God,can the Hopey Changeys get any more boring? Yikes!
Look,it's all BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHH and FOX NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZ. We get it. So what is there to discuss? Lets just call it BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSHH and FOX NOOOOOOOOOOOZ and then lets call it a day. Time for you Hopey Changeys to get some new material. Now you just sound loony and boring. So get back to us when you get some new material ok? Thanks.
Oh reeeeeally...I suppose your inside man who is best friends with Blair when he was the PM of the UK is telling you minute by minute what was transpiring at 10 Downing St. from 2002 till he left office.....must be nice to be privy to all that inside stuff....
Significantly, Blair added: "I mean obviously you would have had to use and deploy different arguments about the nature of the threat." He continued: "I can't really think we'd be better with him and his two sons in charge, but it's incredibly difficult. That's why I sympathise with the people who were against it [the war] for perfectly good reasons and are against it now, but for me, in the end I had to take the decision."
Though Blair has always argued that Iraq would be better off without Saddam Hussein, to parliament and the public, he always justified military action on the grounds that the Iraqi dictator was in breach of UN-backed demands that he abandon his weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programme.
Blair was "absolutely prepared to say he was willing to contemplate regime change if [UN-backed measures] did not work", Sir David Manning, Blair's former foreign policy adviser, told the inquiry. If it proved impossible to pursue the UN route, then Blair would be "willing to use force", Manning emphasised.
I don't have inside information. However, Blair's Former Policy Adviser and Blair's own words will do quite nicely.
Yes they do...they say absolutely nothing about "I would have invaded Iraq anyway." Thank you.
You can see the forest, but not the trees. Oh well.
