Blair avoids protesters on his day at the Iraq Inquiry
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...aks-early.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8485694.stm
- Blair: 9/11 changed everything, Saddam had to go
- I'd do it all again, defiant ex-PM declares
- 'Monster' could have killed millions in chemical attack
- Iran is new threat that could warrant intervention
- Fury as he arrives early and goes in through the back
- Families of war dead walk out in disgust at 'smug' Blair
Quote:
Tony Blair was defiant today as he admitted he had made clear he would join the U.S. in a war to topple Saddam Hussein after 9/11 even if they failed to get UN backing. The former prime minister said the terror attacks in New York convinced him he could not 'run the risk' of allowing the dictator to carry out an atrocity using chemical, biological or nuclear missiles. Mr Blair was branded 'cowardly' after sneaking inside two hours early for his long-awaited appearance before the Iraq inquiry, meaning he avoided a gauntlet of hate through protesters.
To the disgust of families of dead soldiers, he offered no apology for taking Britain to war despite the lack of concrete proof about weapons of mass destruction and said he would do it all again. As hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside, Mr Blair described Saddam as a 'monster' and 'psychopath' who was intending to develop an arsenal of WMDs. But relatives of soldiers who died in the conflict watching his evidence were repulsed at his attitude, accusing him of 'smirking'. One walked out after an hour, branding the inquiry a 'waste of time'.
Quote:
Mr Blair told the Chilcot inquiry he assured George W. Bush in April 2002 that 'if it came to military action because there was no way of dealing with this [Iraq] diplomatically, we would be with him.' He admitted the controversial claim in a September 2002 dossier that Iraq could deploy WMD in 45 minutes was a mistake that had later 'assumed a vastly greater significance'.But he denied duping the nation over the justification for war, insisting: 'This is not a lie or a conspiracy or a deceit or a deception, it was decision I had to take.'He also defended saying in the dossier that the intelligence had established 'beyond doubt' that Saddam the weapons. 'I believed it was beyond doubt,' he said.
And he dismissed claims he secretly 'signed in blood' to war at the April summit in Texas, almost a year before the invasion, insisting that the means of removing Saddam was left open. 'It was obviously a possibility that military action would be the outcome of what was going to happen. So there was a general discussion of the possibility of going down the military route, but obviously we were arguing very much for that to be if the UN route failed.'
I watched an hour or so of it and boy is he as good as ever at avoiding questions/telling lies. The man trails off to something totally unrelated when asked a question and its hard not to get lost listening to him. The only way you can pin someone like Tony Blair is to have someone who will not only question him but will question his answers. 'Sorry Mr Blair but thats not answering the question, please try again.' - The thing with Blair is that he makes a very convincing liar because he actually appears to believe his own lies, then again I suppose you have to when you have over a million deaths hanging over you.
I really feel for the families who sons and daughters were killed over a lie, Mr Blair still has his kids - those families can never see or speak to their sons/daughters ever again. What did they die for?