Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has expressed “sorrow, regret and apology” for some mistakes he made during the 2003 Iraqi war, even as he rejected the Chilcot inquiry’s criticisms of his decision to lead Britain to the war.
In a press conference to respond to the report, Blair started with an emotional statement that he accepted “full responsibility without exception or excuse” for the consequences of the war.
But, by the end, Blair had delivered a defiant justification of his reasons for taking the UK to war, and rejected most of the criticisms contained in the report, authored by Sir John Chilcot.
He began by describing the choice to join the US in military action as the “hardest, most momentous, most agonising decision” of his life.
Blair said he had wanted to set the Iraqi people free and secure them from the “evil” of Saddam Hussein, but instead they had become victims of sectarian violence.
“For all of this, I express more sorrow, regret and apology than you can ever know or believe,” he said, in a speech in which his voice cracked with emotion.
The Labour politician went on to repeat that he apologised for the failures in planning the war and its aftermath, but was clear that he still believes the decision to remove Saddam was correct. Iraq could be in a worse state than Syria is now if the regime had not been stopped, he suggested.
“I did it because I thought it was right,” Blair said.
Donald Trump Praises Saddam Hussein
US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump offered surprising praises for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein at a rally on Tuesday night, describing him as “a bad guy” who also happened to be good at killing terrorists.
The Republican nominee who had been trashing President Obama’s handling of terrorism veered off written notes, saying “Saddam Hussein was a bad guy, right?”
“He was a bad guy, really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn’t read them rights. They didn’t talk. They were terrorists. It was over.”
Trump, who supported the Iraq War in the early months of the conflict but later disavowed it, also criticized the United States’ decision to invade Iraq and remove Hussein from power, suggesting it “destabilized the region.”
“Today, Iraq is the Harvard for terrorism,” Trump said. “You want to be a terrorist, you go to Iraq. It’s like Harvard, OK?”