Tony Blair Stands Up To Liberal Terrorism, Has No Regrets About Going After Saddam

FinancialTimes.com:

An unrepentant Tony Blair told the Iraq inquiry yesterday that he would, "frankly, do it all again" as he defended his decision to topple Saddam Hussein and urged world leaders to take "a very hard line" on Iran.

The former prime minister faced heckles of "murderer" as he concluded six hours of defiant testimony in which he expressed "not a regret" for removing a dictator who, in his view, could today have posed a nuclear threat.

After overcoming a rare bout of nerves, which had left his hand shaking, Mr Blair delivered a characteristically assured and unapologetic performance covering five years of British engagement in Iraq.

He offered few concessions to critics apart from accepting that, with hindsight, the public presentation of intelligence could have been improved and the army's nation-building skills strengthened.

Addressing allegations he exaggerated the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he said: "This isn't about a lie or a conspiracy or a deceit or a deception, this is a decision." Without the war, he argued, the "psychopathic" dictator Saddam would now be in a dangerous nuclear arms race with Iran.

"What's important is not to ask the March 2003 question but to ask the 2010 question," he said, adding: "With the oil price at $100 a barrel, he would have had the intent and he would have had the means, and we would have lost our nerve."

Iran's support for terrorism and nuclear ambitions would mean that the international community would have to confront the "same judgment on risk" he faced. "I take a very hard line, a tough line on Iran today and many of the same arguments apply," he said.

Mr Blair denied "signing in blood" his commitment to invade Iraq as early as April 2002 at a summit with the US president. But Mr Blair said: "What I said to President [George W.] Bush is that we are going to be with you in confronting and dealing with this threat."

Great job by Mr. Blair. WMD's or no WMD's, Saddam Hussein and his heinous, murderous regime needed to be toppled.