MP says Iraq situation can be traced to invasion
John Baron MP has responded to Tony Blair’s comments over the weekend that the present situation in Iraq has in large part been caused by the West’s refusal to intervene in Syria.
John said,
“Old habits die hard. We went to war in Iraq on a false premise. Grave errors in the aftermath, including the dismantling of national structures and the power vacuum that followed, and the pursuit of sectarian politics, have helped to create the dire situation today.”
“Intervening in Syria would have helped the extremists on the rebels’ side, including those allied to al-Qaeda, created even more bloodshed, and perhaps drawn us into a protracted civil war. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Ends
Word Count: 133
Date: 16th June 2014
Notes to Editors
John resigned from the Shadow Front Bench in 2003 to vote against the Iraq War, and helped to muster support on the back benches against intervention in Syria last August
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