Courtesy of Mish.
When I mentioned names of those who played a role in the current mess in Iraq (see Assessing the Blame for Iraq: Bush, Obama, McCain, Others; Iraq Sunken Costs), I left out one key name, former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
Blair is now out to revise whitewash history in an attempt to absolve himself of guilt.
Blair Defends Iraq Invasion
CTV News reports Former British PM Blair defends 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the West’s failure to intervene in Syria is to blame for the violent insurgency in neighbouring Iraq — not the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
In an essay issued Sunday, Blair called for Western countries to intervene in Syria, though he did not specify how. He wrote that extremists “have to be countered hard” wherever they are fighting.
Blair led Britain to join the U.S.-led intervention in 2003, and is now a Middle East peace envoy. He rejected as “simply not credible” arguments by critics who claim Iraq would be stable today had the invasion not happened.
Former U.K. ambassador Christopher Meyer said Blair was wrong, and that the campaign against Saddam was a significant reason for the sectarian violence in Iraq.
Blair’s Disingenuous, Self-Serving Analysis
On his blog yesterday, Blair went to comical lengths to defend the mission and blame scapegoats.
Please consider Iraq, Syria and the Middle East, an essay by Tony Blair.
Blair: It is inevitable that events in Mosul have led to a re-run of the arguments over the decision to remove Saddam Hussein in 2003. The key question obviously is what to do now. But because some of the commentary has gone immediately to claim that but for that decision, Iraq would not be facing this challenge; or even more extraordinary, implying that but for the decision, the Middle East would be at peace right now; it is necessary that certain points are made forcefully before putting forward a solution to what is happening now.
Mish: That paragraph is the first of many lies by Blair. No one suggests the Mideast would be at peace now had we not invaded Iraq in 2003. We do suggest Iraq would be a better place.
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