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Proceeding contribution from Tony Blair (Labour) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 21 February 2007. It occurred during Ministerial statement on Iraq and the Middle East.


Iraq and the Middle East

I am afraid that, for obvious reasons, I completely disagree with the right hon. and learned Gentleman. I do not believe that it was right to leave Saddam Hussein, who had butchered hundreds of thousands of his people, and killed people using chemical weapons, in power. I do not believe that that was a sensible situation to leave in place. Again, as I have said to other hon. Members, the fact is that the reason why it is tough in Iraq is that terrorists are making it difficult. Therefore, our response—[Interruption.] With the greatest respect to the right hon. and learned Gentleman, we did not cause the terrorism. The terrorists cause the terrorism. He has to understand that we will not defeat these people unless we stand up to them in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Anywhere where they rear their heads, we should be prepared to stand up and fight them. If we adopt the attitude that he has, we are well on the way to surrendering the initiative to them.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
457 c274 
Session
2006-07
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Armed forces Army Deployment Iraq Police Nuclear weapons Peacekeeping operations Politics and government Terrorism Security USA Israel Palestine Iran Syria Middle East Reconstruction Peace negotiations Lebanon Basra Baghdad
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk