I'm Sorry : Blair Takes Blame For Iraq War And Admits conflict Caused The rise Of ISIS In Astonshing
Source: UK Daily Mail
Tony Blair has finally said sorry for the Iraq War and admitted he could be partly to blame for the rise of Islamic State.
The extraordinary confession by the former Prime Minister comes after 12 years in which he refused to apologise for the conflict.
Blair makes his dramatic mea culpa during a TV interview about the hell caused by his and George Bushs decision to oust Saddam Hussein.
Tony Blair, who has finally said sorry for the Iraq War during an interview on CNN, which is due to be broadcast today
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Tony Blair, who has finally said sorry for the Iraq War during an interview on CNN, which is due to be broadcast today
In the exchange, Blair repeatedly says sorry for his conduct and even refers to claims that the invasion was a war crime while denying he committed one.
Blair is asked bluntly in the CNN interview, to be broadcast today: Was the Iraq War a mistake?
He replies: I apologise for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong.
I also apologise for some of the mistakes in planning and, certainly, our mistake in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime.
Challenged that the Iraq War was the principal cause of the rise of Islamic State, he said: I think there are elements of truth in that.
As well as apologising for the Iraq War, the former Prime Minister also admitted he could be partly to blame for the rise of Islamic State
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As well as apologising for the Iraq War, the former Prime Minister also admitted he could be partly to blame for the rise of Islamic State
The TV interview by respected US political broadcaster Fareed Zakaria, also sees Blair be accused of being George Bush's 'poodle' over the conflict
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The TV interview by respected US political broadcaster Fareed Zakaria, also sees Blair be accused of being George Bush's 'poodle' over the conflict
'Of course you cant say those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015.
In the trial by TV, respected US political broadcaster Fareed Zakaria accuses him of being President Bushs poodle over the conflict. Blairs confession comes a week after The Mail on Sunday published a bombshell White House memo revealing for the first time how Blair and Bush agreed a deal in blood a year before the invasion.
A 2002 briefing note from US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the President showed Blair had secretly pledged to back the conflict while telling MPs and British voters that he was seeking a diplomatic solution.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3287982/I-m-sorry-Blair-takes-blame-Iraq-War-admits-conflict-caused-rise-ISIS-astonishing-apology-TV-show.html
thesquanderer
(11,991 posts)mindwalker_i
(4,407 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)the refugees in Europe might well be enough to make this man see the light. I doubt anything will every make our leaders feel that way.
olegramps
(8,200 posts)The run-up to the Iraq war should be investigated extensively by congress. It constituted one of the most blatant abuses of power in the history of the presidency. While the Republicans hold extensive investigative commissions at the cost of millions that are totally trumped up nonsense, the Democrats shrug their shoulders and let this atrocity to be sweep under the rug. This only embolden the criminal Cheney to spew his lies virtually without contradiction. The only explanation that I can imagine is that the Democrats didn't what their own incompetence to be publicly exposed.
thesquanderer
(11,991 posts)Oh, wait...
Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)olegramps
(8,200 posts)Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)Stands for: It's OK If You're A Republican.
olegramps
(8,200 posts)BlueMTexpat
(15,373 posts)on the war criminals in the US?
sadoldgirl
(3,431 posts)I do love your optimism, old chap!
IthinkThereforeIAM
(3,077 posts)... eom.
rurallib
(62,448 posts)But Tony and W will peacefully live out their lives unencumbered by paying for their sins and probably feeling no guilt at all.
Wish their was a hell.
FuzzyRabbit
(1,969 posts)You are right. If you cause the death of one person, you will be punished.
But if you cause the deaths of tens of thousands, you probably will not be punished, but allowed to peacefully live out your life like Idi Amin, Stalin, Mao Tze-Tung, Yahya Khan, Kim Jong Il, and our own George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and their co-conspirators.
hlthe2b
(102,357 posts)Cheney must be chewing barbed wire, by now!
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)Demonaut
(8,926 posts)MoonchildCA
(1,301 posts)...though it still probably won't have an impact here, unfortunately.
bulloney
(4,113 posts)maddiemom
(5,106 posts)HE was 100% RIGHT and that's that.
FlatBaroque
(3,160 posts)"I apologise for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong. "
TexasBushwhacker
(20,214 posts)But I do wonder if he KNEW the "intelligence" was a pack of manufactured lies when he made the deal with Bush.
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)just on the face of it. So Tony should have as well.
TubbersUK
(1,439 posts)as did I and various members of Blair's own cabinet plus millions of protestors in London and around the world, Hans Blix and the UN weapons inspectorate, the French and many other governments.................... etc etc
He knew and he lied.
FlatBaroque
(3,160 posts)Would know that the intelligence was a pack of manufactured lies
LiberalLovinLug
(14,176 posts)The Downing Street memo reveals as much:
"..the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
TubbersUK
(1,439 posts)The same old excuse he's been using for years.
ETA: I wonder if the Chilcot report is about to be published at long last and he's polishing up his defence in preparation.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)hibbing
(10,109 posts)The always mentioned "faulty intelligence",the same excuse people that voted for the war in Iraq use. Odd how so many people outside of the bubble knew it was not faulty, but outright falsified. Post after post on here by so many.
Peace
T_i_B
(14,747 posts)marym625
(17,997 posts)Hotler
(11,445 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)Some apology!
SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)Sickening.
dorkzilla
(5,141 posts)What a crock of shit. BUT HE TOLD ME THERE WERE WMDs!!!"
silvershadow
(10,336 posts)isn't good for much.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
pa28
(6,145 posts)I also apologise for some of the mistakes in planning and, certainly, our mistake in our understanding of what would happen once you (meaning the U.S.) removed the regime.
He's effectively shifting all the blame from himself. IMO the only reason he offered this false apology is the recent Labour election repudiating the Blairites and electing Jeremy Corbyn. Remember, Corbyn suggested that Blair should be held accountable for war crimes.
Feeling the Bern
(3,839 posts)TubbersUK
(1,439 posts)Chilcot has been running a public enquiry into the UK's role in the Iraq war.
His report is long overdue and he's recently come under a lot of pressure to publish it.
Maybe it's imminent and Tony is rehearsing his response.
BeanMusical
(4,389 posts)have also helped to trigger this.
T_i_B
(14,747 posts)Blairite politics have become very unpopular in the UK.
frizzled
(509 posts)nt
Liberalagogo
(1,770 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Yep, that's pretty much what it sounds like.
Baitball Blogger
(46,757 posts)libodem
(19,288 posts)Demonaut
(8,926 posts)Android3.14
(5,402 posts)George W. fucked up everything.
Everything.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)That's a non apology.
Let's talk about all the planning and working together with our country's Democrats.
The Blair Democrats: Ready for Battle
ToxMarz
(2,169 posts)Jarqui
(10,130 posts)for a while hoping folks forget this ... (like they have with the other condemning evidence ..)
appalachiablue
(41,171 posts)and charity work. And with 6 homes. 'New Labour' is the Brit equivalent of Third Way I guess. Some apology-
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)iow: I'm really, really sorry we were led astray by those incompetent hacks in the clandestine services. We would certainly have had no reason to invade Iraq if it weren't for those assholes! It's not like Iraq had any oil or anything.
Fucker(s).
NCcoast
(480 posts)They'll never take full responsibility.
UCmeNdc
(9,600 posts)Well he comes close......
SmittynMo
(3,544 posts)It'll be a cold day in hell, for sure
SCantiGOP
(13,873 posts)What do you have to say?
NewJeffCT
(56,829 posts)Somehow, I doubt either one will ever apologize.
SmittynMo
(3,544 posts)been trained to believe the bullshit answers they were using. It's justification in their small, twisted, corrupt minds.
You'll NEVER hear I'm sorry from them. NEVER!!!!
Uncle Joe
(58,417 posts)Thanks for the thread, Wash. state Desk Jet.
tabasco
(22,974 posts)Yeah, right, Tony. The intelligence you knew was cooked was wrong. You belong in a cell, lying war criminal.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)wrong they were. Yes, for many years we had planned to access the oil in that area but it took the bush family and cheney to decide that we would take in by force rather than pay for it.
I wonder if they ever consider how much cheaper it would have been just to buy the damned stuff?
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)We want a full confession. Then maybe we'll think about getting you off with a light sentence in The Hague. We want evidence that not even the historical revisionists at the Texas state board of education can ignore.
Seeing Dick Cheney rot in an eight by ten foot cell will be worth letting you walk.
Now, about those telegrams to and from Secretary Powell . . . please take all the time you need and don't leave anything out.
Oh, yes, and please explain what was meant by the Bush administration was "fixing the facts" to fit the policy.
Was the errant wrong because the Big Dick wanted it wrong?
Oh, yes, and what do you know, if anything, about the meeting of Vice Premier Cheney's energy task force meeting when Iraq was divided up among western oil corporations?
ananda
(28,876 posts)... he's using that old like about getting bad information.
Even I had truthful info back then.
bbgrunt
(5,281 posts)hope that this doesn't end with his "apology".
Duval
(4,280 posts)Also remember a certain memo sent by Cheney, that has been sent into the deep bowels of the earth or some where out in space.
djean111
(14,255 posts)NOT an apology. Not taking blame.
sadoldgirl
(3,431 posts)in Raygun's words:"Mistakes were made."
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)I apologise for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong.
I also apologise for some of the mistakes in planning and, certainly, our mistake in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime.
tblue37
(65,487 posts)in the post!
MisterP
(23,730 posts)whatever it took to get that war going
frizzled
(509 posts)Surely he'd be in the running
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Thats so passive aggressive.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Gregorian
(23,867 posts)Also, intelligence wasn't "wrong", it was manipulated. Go directly to jail, do not collect two hundred dollars.
mountain grammy
(26,648 posts)blaming faulty intelligence. Well, Tony, you were the faulty intelligence.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)hatrack
(59,592 posts)Beyond that, now that what HE did affects HIS country, with 100s of thousands, maybe millions displaced by a useless war of choice HIS lying bullshit helped create heading HIS way . . .
NOW it's time for candor and confession.
FUCK. YOU. TONY. BLAIR.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)While a good first step, Blair does not go nearly far enough in his comments here. How can he claim to say "sorry" and still not say the war was a mistake. It comes across as insincere. Of course he blames the faulty intelligence yet the best intelligence available said Saddam had no WMD and not even a program to develop them. Here I am talking about the findings of the UN weapons inspectors who were on the ground. Here they claim they were duped by Cheney and Rumsfeld but that is a lame excuse because they were responsible for taking an independent measure of the situation and they did not, apparently thinking that Cheney and Rumsfeld would not lie to them. That is always a fatal failure.
Iggo
(47,565 posts)Yeah fuck you, Tony.
reddread
(6,896 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)Unknown Beatle
(2,672 posts)Otherwise, why is he feeling the heat all of a sudden?
Betty Karlson
(7,231 posts)Did he have some actual epiphany after Corbyn won the Labour leadership?
mdbl
(4,973 posts)Showing him in hell for his lies.
Betty Karlson
(7,231 posts)1. Corbyn saying he wants to negociate with extremist groups rather than drone-bomb them
2. Trudeau in Canada, pulling out of the military efforts that are a result of the 2003 invasion
3...
not fooled
(5,801 posts)What prompted Bush's Poodle to spew is probably the inevitable if not imminent release of the Chilcot Inquiry's report:
"The Iraq Inquiry, also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot,[1][2] is a British public inquiry into the nation's role in the Iraq War. The inquiry was announced on 15 June 2009 by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, with an initial announcement that proceedings would take place in private, a decision which was subsequently reversed after receiving criticism in the media and the House of Commons.[3][4][5]
The Inquiry was pursued by a committee of Privy Counsellors with broad terms of reference to consider Britain's involvement in Iraq between mid-2001 and July 2009. It covered the run-up to the conflict, the subsequent military action and its aftermath with the purpose to establish the way decisions were made, to determine what happened and to identify lessons to ensure that in a similar situation in future, the British government is equipped to respond in the most effective manner in the best interests of the country.[6] The open sessions of the inquiry commenced on 24 November 2009 and concluded on 2 February 2011...
...The million-word report of the Inquiry was due to be released to the public by 2014,[8] but difficult negotiations were continuing with the United States over the publication of documents.[9] The Lord-in-Waiting Lord Wallace of Saltaire said on behalf of the government that it would be "inappropriate" to publish the report in the months leading up to the next general election in May 2015.[10]
In August it transpired that the Report would in any event be further delayed, possibly into 2016. This was said to be due to the legal requirement of "Maxwellisation", allowing any person who is to be criticised a fair opportunity to comment on a draft prior to finalisation and publication"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Inquiry[link:http://|
]http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/
Betty Karlson
(7,231 posts)Thanks for that bit of context. Much appreciated.
mdbl
(4,973 posts)It was obviously a setup by Bush and Blair, but let's keep doing inquiries. What a waste of time and money. The weapons inspectors told those morons they were wrong from the beginning. I am still amazed this country could be whipped into a frenzy of stupidity over a bunch of lies. Never thought I would see that, but there it happened. First they put a total moron in the white house then follow him over the cliff.
LeftishBrit
(41,210 posts)Tony hasn't apologized for the war, just for making certain mistakes in the planning; and still defends the decision to go into Iraq.
From the BBC news site:
Tony Blair has apologised for mistakes during the Iraq War - and said there were "elements of truth" to claims it caused the rise of Islamic State.
...But he again defended the invasion, saying it was "hard to apologise" for removing Saddam Hussein and that Iraq might have become like Syria otherwise...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34630380
I can't really imagine Blair ever apologizing for the war itself. Not that it would do much good at this stage, anyway!
It's poor reporting from the Daily Fail. Which will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody.
Truprogressive85
(900 posts)How any Iraqi lives were lost
Does he even care ?
Saying sorry won't do nothing for the people that lost their love ones.
I rather see him in a prion cell rotting away till his last days.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)What will come of this?
Blair and his followers will remain unpopular with the voting public and will continue plotting against the current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Many of these people have never forgiven Corbyn for having been dead right about the Iraq War.
merrily
(45,251 posts)lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,361 posts)No, I didn't think so.
The term Dodgy Dossier was first coined by online polemical magazine Spiked in relation to the September Dossier.[3] The term was later employed by Channel 4 News when its reporter, Julian Rush,[4][5] was made aware of Glen Rangwala's discovery[6] that much of the work in the Iraq Dossier had been plagiarised from various unattributed sources. The most notable source was an article by then graduate student Ibrahim al-Marashi, entitled Iraq's Security and Intelligence Network: A Guide and Analysis,[7]
Whole sections of Marashi's writings on "Saddam's Special Security Organisation" were repeated verbatim including typographical errors, while certain amendments were made to strengthen the tone of the alleged findings (e.g., "monitoring foreign embassies in Iraq" became "spying on foreign embassies in Iraq", and "aiding opposition groups in hostile regimes" became "supporting terrorist organisations in hostile regimes" .
In its opening paragraph the briefing document claimed that it drew "upon a number of sources, including intelligence material." Before the document's release it had been praised by Tony Blair and United States Secretary of State Colin Powell as further intelligence and quality research.[8] The day after Channel 4's exposé, Blair's office issued a statement admitting that a mistake was made in not crediting its sources, but did not concede that the quality of the document's content was affected.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Dossier
...
However, two sections later became the centre of fierce debate: the allegation that Iraq had sought "significant quantities of uranium from Africa", and the claim in the foreword to the document written by British Prime Minister Tony Blair that "The document discloses that his military planning allows for some of the WMD to be ready within 45 minutes of an order to use them."[3]
Britain's biggest selling popular daily newspaper, The Sun, subsequently carried the headline "Brits 45mins from doom",[4] while the Daily Star reported "Mad Saddam ready to attack: 45 minutes from a chemical war",[5] helping to create the impression among the British public that Iraq was a threat to Britain.
Major General Michael Laurie, one of those involved in producing the dossier wrote to the Chilcot Inquiry in 2011 saying "the purpose of the dossier was precisely to make a case for war, rather than setting out the available intelligence, and that to make the best out of sparse and inconclusive intelligence the wording was developed with care."[6] On 26 June 2011, The Observer reported on a memo from John Scarlett to Blair's foreign affairs adviser, released under the Freedom of Information Act, which referred to "the benefit of obscuring the fact that in terms of WMD Iraq is not that exceptional". The memo has been described as one of the most significant documents on the September dossier yet published as it is considered a proposal to mislead the public.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Dossier
"the intelligence we received was wrong" - no, you demanded false intelligence, massaged it, sexed it up, plagiarised it and made it look more up to date than it was, and then misrepresented it. And finally, if anyone in the media said something misleading about it (like the '45 minutes'), you never tried to correct the false impression.
Gregorian
(23,867 posts)Pinochet didn't have the internet. I think information is moving so quickly, these guys know they're in for trouble.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)damage and destruction they have created.
Wash. state Desk Jet
(3,426 posts)Tony Blair says he's sorry for Iraq War 'mistakes,' but not for ousting Saddam
I can say that I apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong because, even though he had used chemical weapons extensively against his own people, against others, the program in the form that we thought it was did not exist in the way that we thought," Blair said in an exclusive interview on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS that airs Sunday.
Blair was referring to the claim that Saddam's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction, which was used by the U.S. and British governments to justify launching the invasion. But the intelligence reports the claim was based on turned out to be false.
Fareed asks Bush's Deputy Defense Secretary on Iraq
Fareed asks Bush's Deputy Defense Secretary on Iraq 03:10
The ensuing war and dismantling of Saddam's government plunged Iraq into chaos, resulting in years of deadly sectarian violence and the rise of al Qaeda in Iraq, a precursor of ISIS. Tens of thousands of Iraqis, more than 4,000 U.S. troops and 179 British service members were killed in the lengthy conflict.
As the most high-profile foreign ally of former U.S. President George W. Bush in the Iraq invasion, Blair has found his legacy overshadowed by the war, with questions and criticism following him wherever he goes.
gregcrawford
(2,382 posts)... doesn't he mean the intelligence that he helped Dubya and Satan - I mean, Cheney - manufacture?
What scum...
Zorra
(27,670 posts)Electing Bernie Sanders POTUS means never having to say you're sorry.
Vote for the smart one. Vote for Bernie!