tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post4680030558709478906..comments2024-03-26T13:27:26.499+00:00Comments on Zelo Street: It Was Ten Years Ago TodayTim Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00726447899972084146noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-89700742262274066562013-03-19T21:59:44.437+00:002013-03-19T21:59:44.437+00:00I wouldn't count on it not happening again.
T...I wouldn't count on it not happening again.<br /><br />The media has little interest in self-examination on their WMD failure. Pro-war politicians openly say they wanted to remove Sadamm - not stop WMD, the actual premise.<br /><br />We only just found out what Nixon did over Vietnam in 1968 - treason. Reagan's legacy is barely impacted by Iran-Contra.paulocanninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17499916652508144662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433144336299288135.post-75823557499944300222013-03-19T20:43:26.859+00:002013-03-19T20:43:26.859+00:00The one thing I will say in defence of Tony Blair ...The one thing I will say in defence of Tony Blair is that I think he genuinely believed removing Saddam by force was the right thing to do. At the time, Sierra Leone and Kosovo had broadly been successes and Afghanistan at least looked like it was going to plan. International law is weak, ineffectual and blatantly shaped by self-interest on all sides, and I can understand why Tony Blair thought it was right to go it alone.<br /><br />However, that I think was the worst mistake of the whole thing - going it alone without UN support. Once one country unilaterally invades another, no matter how unsavoury the regime, on whatever grounds you choose, what's to stop another country using the same excuse? Certainly that was an easy excuse used by Russia to invade Georgia in a blatant land-grab - I'm not sure Putin would have dared do that without the precedent set by Iraq.<br /><br />That, I think, is going to be the most far-reaching consequence of the Iraq way. You can argue all day over whether Iraq would be a better or worse place with Saddam still in power, but in the long run, I fear that the breakdown in trust between the USA and the rest of the world will eventually cost a lot more lives. I dread to think what will happen if US intelligence really does find a rogue state with WMDs and no-one believes them.Chris Neville-Smithhttp://chrisnevillesmith.me.uknoreply@blogger.com