Blair defends decision to go to war
Prime Minister Tony Blair has defended his decision to go to war in Iraq, saying it was the “right thing to do”.
He acknowledged it was a “tough” choice and that the electorate would have to make a personal judgment as to whether they voted Labour at the election.
But Mr Blair told BBC One’s Paxman Interviews: “If you want me to apologise for the war in Iraq, I’m afraid I cannot say that I’m sorry we removed Saddam Hussein.”
The Labour leader accepted there was a “trust” issue, but stressed he had delivered on domestic promises such as the economy and public service investment.
Grilled over the intelligence put forward in the build-up to the war, Mr Blair adamantly insisted that four separate inquiries had vindicated the Government.
“People can actually go and look on the website and they can study the Joint Intelligence Committee reports that I got and see the intelligence that was given to us”, he said.
“It said that Saddam Hussein had chemical and biological weapons, that he could manufacture new stocks of VX and sarin agents within months of doing so, that he could use those weapons against not just military targets, but strategic targets – you can go and read it.”
A defiant Mr Blair added: “You can go through these issues about my integrity, my character, the legal advice, or you can accept that in the end a decision had to be taken – there was no middle way, there was no fence to sit on.”
“I took that decision, I cannot, I’m afraid, apologise for having taking it; I believe still it was the right thing to do.”
A resignation letter from the Foreign Office’s former deputy legal adviser, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, was recently released, revealing that she quit because she believed that the war was illegal.
A censored part of the letter, obtained by Channel 4 under the Freedom of Information Act, suggested that Lord Goldsmith QC originally believed a new UN resolution was needed to make the war legal.
However, on March 17, the Attorney General said the invasion was legal under a previous UN resolution.
On the issue, Mr Blair admitted he had not seen the Foreign Office legal advice.
But he stressed: “I had the Attorney General’s advice who made it absolutely clear that provided we could show here were breaches of the United Nations resolution.”
Mr Blair also confirmed he was committed to replacing the British independent nuclear deterrent, but said it was decision for the future.
“We have got to retain our nuclear deterrent. It is the right thing for the country”, he said.
Whilst underscoring his commitment, the Prime Minister cautioned that all the different aspects must first be looked at before any decision was taken.
