British Prime Minister Tony Blair told Congress Thursday he believes "with every fiber of instinct and conviction" that the U.S. and British led war on Iraq was justified and that history will forgive them if weapons allegations used as justification were wrong. "We promised Iraq democratic government. We will deliver it," he said.
The British leader suggested that history will forgive the toppling of Saddam Hussein's government even if it turns out that Blair and President Bush were wrong about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
To have hesitated "in the face of this menace when we should have given leadership ... that is something that history will not forgive," Blair said.
Blair's visit to Congress, and then to the White House for a meeting and joint news conference with Bush, came amid deepening questions about the intelligence information both leaders used in arguing that war against Iraq was necessary.
"Can we be sure that terrorists and weapons of mass destruction will join together?" Blair asked. "Let us say one thing. If we are wrong, we will have destroyed a threat that at its least is responsible for inhumane carnage and suffering."
"Finishing the fighting is not finishing the job. We promised Iraq democratic government. We will deliver it." "We promised them the chance to use their oil wells to build prosperity for all their citizens, not a corrupt elite. We will stay with these people so in need of help until the job is done."
"I believe with every fiber of instinct and conviction I have that we are" right in deciding to go to war without broad international support, Blair said.
Blair is the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of Congress since Margaret Thatcher in 1985.
His speech also touched on the war on terrorism and the Middle East peace process as well as other issues.
"This terrorism will not be defeated without peace in the Middle East," he said. The premier stated a "new and deadly virus" had emerged which was terrorism, "whose intent to inflict destruction is unconstrained by human feeling".
He said there was a myth "that though we love freedom, others don't, that our attachment to freedom is a product of our culture". (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
