US, UK Invasion of Iraq Gave Rise to ISIS Terrorists: Blair

The former British prime minister declined to apologize for the war itself.

Tony Blair Courtesy: middleeastmonitor.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has finally admitted that the US, UK-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 eventually led to the emergence of the ISIS terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.

In an interview with Fareed Zakaria on CNN, Blair indicated that he saw merit in the argument that the Iraq war was to blame for the rise of ISIS terrorists.

“I think there are elements of truth in that,” he said when asked whether the Iraq invasion had been the “principal cause” of the rise of ISIS.

As the most high-profile foreign ally of former US President George W. Bush in the Iraq invasion, Blair has found his legacy overshadowed by the war, with questions and criticism following him wherever he goes.

The former British prime minister declined to apologize for the war itself and defended armed intervention in 2003.

Blair, who will be aware of what Sir John Chilcot is planning to say about him in the long-awaited report into the Iraq war, moved to pre-empt its criticisms in his interview. He told Zakaria: “I apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong."

Nicola Sturgeon the Scottish first minister, responded by saying that the “Blair spin operation” had swung into action as Chilcot prepares to publish his report.

In his long-awaited report, Chilcot is expected to criticize the use of intelligence that suggested Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the Iraq war.

The former Northern Ireland Office permanent secretary is also expected to say that the UK and the US failed to make adequate preparations for the aftermath of the invasion.

Chilcot was a member of the Butler inquiry, which in 2004 raised concerns about the intelligence before the Iraq invasion. The inquiry also questioned the way in which senior intelligence officials and British Prime Minister’s office stripped out caveats from intelligence assessments.