Jun 15, 2014
Though President George W. Bush says he won't "weigh in" on the current crisis on Iraq, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has no such qualms.
As The Guardian reports:
The former prime minister said there was a huge range of options available, including air strikes and drones as used in Libya.
Blair was speaking on UK morning TV shows after writing a lengthy essay setting out how to respond to the Iraq crisis, including his belief that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was not the cause of the country's implosion.
Both Blair and Bush are widely condemned as the two men most responsible for the illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq that claimed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives and which many observers say led directly to the current catastrophe now taking place in the country and across the Middle East region.
Responding to Blair's declaration, historian Juan Cole blasted both the former PM his continued defense launching what was clearly an "illegal" war:
[Blair] is complaining that he is unfairly blamed for causing the current mess in Iraq and that if Saddam had still been in power it would be just as unstable.
He is, perhaps deliberately, missing the point. His invasion of Iraq was illegal and based on deception and propaganda. That was what was wrong with it. A quagmire that is the fruit of illegality and fraud is the worst.
The UN Charter allows of only two legitimate grounds for war. One is self-defense. Blair was not defending Britain from Iraq when he invaded and captured Basra.[...]
The other grounds for war is a resolution of the UN Security Council designating a regime a threat to world peace. The UNSC declined to so vote with regard to Iraq.
Reactions of disbelief and anger against Blair were also swift on Twitter:
\u201cTony Blair & Chelsea Manning both have op-eds this weekend related to the Iraq War. The wrong person had to write theirs from prison.\u201d— Derrick O\u2019Keefe (@Derrick O\u2019Keefe) 1402835794
\u201cTony Blair, along with Bush, belongs in jail for his role in the Iraq War https://t.co/Q3c6ZoNiZu #iraq #isis\u201d— Socialist Views \ud83d\udea9 (@Socialist Views \ud83d\udea9) 1402843025
Middle East 'Peace' Envoy Blair calls for war in Iraq. You had your turn, you messed it up MASSIVELY! Go away & play with your bank account
-- Liar MPs (@LiarMPs) June 15, 2014
______________________________
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Though President George W. Bush says he won't "weigh in" on the current crisis on Iraq, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has no such qualms.
As The Guardian reports:
The former prime minister said there was a huge range of options available, including air strikes and drones as used in Libya.
Blair was speaking on UK morning TV shows after writing a lengthy essay setting out how to respond to the Iraq crisis, including his belief that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was not the cause of the country's implosion.
Both Blair and Bush are widely condemned as the two men most responsible for the illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq that claimed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives and which many observers say led directly to the current catastrophe now taking place in the country and across the Middle East region.
Responding to Blair's declaration, historian Juan Cole blasted both the former PM his continued defense launching what was clearly an "illegal" war:
[Blair] is complaining that he is unfairly blamed for causing the current mess in Iraq and that if Saddam had still been in power it would be just as unstable.
He is, perhaps deliberately, missing the point. His invasion of Iraq was illegal and based on deception and propaganda. That was what was wrong with it. A quagmire that is the fruit of illegality and fraud is the worst.
The UN Charter allows of only two legitimate grounds for war. One is self-defense. Blair was not defending Britain from Iraq when he invaded and captured Basra.[...]
The other grounds for war is a resolution of the UN Security Council designating a regime a threat to world peace. The UNSC declined to so vote with regard to Iraq.
Reactions of disbelief and anger against Blair were also swift on Twitter:
\u201cTony Blair & Chelsea Manning both have op-eds this weekend related to the Iraq War. The wrong person had to write theirs from prison.\u201d— Derrick O\u2019Keefe (@Derrick O\u2019Keefe) 1402835794
\u201cTony Blair, along with Bush, belongs in jail for his role in the Iraq War https://t.co/Q3c6ZoNiZu #iraq #isis\u201d— Socialist Views \ud83d\udea9 (@Socialist Views \ud83d\udea9) 1402843025
Middle East 'Peace' Envoy Blair calls for war in Iraq. You had your turn, you messed it up MASSIVELY! Go away & play with your bank account
-- Liar MPs (@LiarMPs) June 15, 2014
______________________________
Though President George W. Bush says he won't "weigh in" on the current crisis on Iraq, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has no such qualms.
As The Guardian reports:
The former prime minister said there was a huge range of options available, including air strikes and drones as used in Libya.
Blair was speaking on UK morning TV shows after writing a lengthy essay setting out how to respond to the Iraq crisis, including his belief that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was not the cause of the country's implosion.
Both Blair and Bush are widely condemned as the two men most responsible for the illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq that claimed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives and which many observers say led directly to the current catastrophe now taking place in the country and across the Middle East region.
Responding to Blair's declaration, historian Juan Cole blasted both the former PM his continued defense launching what was clearly an "illegal" war:
[Blair] is complaining that he is unfairly blamed for causing the current mess in Iraq and that if Saddam had still been in power it would be just as unstable.
He is, perhaps deliberately, missing the point. His invasion of Iraq was illegal and based on deception and propaganda. That was what was wrong with it. A quagmire that is the fruit of illegality and fraud is the worst.
The UN Charter allows of only two legitimate grounds for war. One is self-defense. Blair was not defending Britain from Iraq when he invaded and captured Basra.[...]
The other grounds for war is a resolution of the UN Security Council designating a regime a threat to world peace. The UNSC declined to so vote with regard to Iraq.
Reactions of disbelief and anger against Blair were also swift on Twitter:
\u201cTony Blair & Chelsea Manning both have op-eds this weekend related to the Iraq War. The wrong person had to write theirs from prison.\u201d— Derrick O\u2019Keefe (@Derrick O\u2019Keefe) 1402835794
\u201cTony Blair, along with Bush, belongs in jail for his role in the Iraq War https://t.co/Q3c6ZoNiZu #iraq #isis\u201d— Socialist Views \ud83d\udea9 (@Socialist Views \ud83d\udea9) 1402843025
Middle East 'Peace' Envoy Blair calls for war in Iraq. You had your turn, you messed it up MASSIVELY! Go away & play with your bank account
-- Liar MPs (@LiarMPs) June 15, 2014
______________________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.