# Blair - War Criminal II **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 9, 2016, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908 "2016-06-09T09:21:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/1 "2016-06-09T09:21:28Z")
I didn’t want to resurrect the old 2014 thread on [this subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=723089&highlight=blair+criminal). It looks like [Blair is running scared of the Chilcott repor](http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/06/blair-camp-readies-its-defence-to-chilcot-report)t and is striking back by trying to deflect blame on to others. For example[Jeremy Corbyn](http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/08/tony-blair-accuses-jeremy-corbyn-of-standing-by-as-syria-is-bombed) Personally, I think he needs to be held accountable for whole Iraq debacle. Anyone else agree? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/2 "2016-06-09T10:20:27Z")
What do you mean by “accountable”? If you mean everyone acknowledging that he dragged the UK into a pointless war on false pretenses while doing everything possible to silence any political or public opposition, I think the Chilcot Report will confirm what most people already know. If you mean he needs to be subject to some sort of criminal prosecution, we’d need to see some substantial proof of specific individual illegal activity and even if Blair had been foolish enough to leave any such evidence I suspect it’s long been whitewashed out of the report. I’ll be very, very surprised if there’s enough material to get him to the Hague at this long remove. Sadly, even if Blair does get tarnished by this I doubt his chief minions Mandelson and Campbell will suffer any notable consequences, and they were both key to pushing the country into war. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@mr\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/3 "2016-06-09T11:36:42Z")
Bar the ones who had their closest directly affected, I always find it amusing that some people linger fixating upon punishing the past whilst at the same stroke are dismissive of what is happening right now. Like somehow if instead of ‘going to war’, their money is used to subcontract multiple ephemerus battles, then it becomes fine? ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/4 "2016-06-09T11:48:21Z")
What is happening now is a direct consequence of those poorly considered actions of the past. Although it is not possible to state this absolute certainty I don’t believe that the ME would be in the situation it is now had we not invaded Iraq. What state it would be in is, or course, impossible to say. Blair and Bush took us into Iraq without a plan of what to do after they won the “war”. This has in turn lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths and Blair still appears to believe he is some kind of messiah. I doubt there is sufficient evidence to gain a conviction for any kind of war crimes, but hopefully his reputation will be damaged enough that he will not be able to hold positions such as his [ME Envo](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/16/tony-blair-middle-east-envoy-quartet-business-palestinians-israelis)y role and make immense profits ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/5 "2016-06-09T13:27:47Z")
Will actions like this aid the pro-Brexit side of the equation? ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/6 "2016-06-09T16:57:58Z")
Got nothing to do with the EU. Blair still can’t attend public events with prior public notice. And he’s still in complete denial about what he did. Fuck him and every living breath he takes. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/7 "2016-06-09T17:00:28Z")
[QUOTE=up\_the\_junction] Blair still can’t attend public events with prior public notice. [/QUOTE] Why? ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/8 "2016-06-10T07:54:27Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Will actions like this aid the pro-Brexit side of the equation? I would say so. He appeared with John Major yesterday as part of the Remain campaign. If I was Major I would not have had anything to do with him. Blair is toxic and will not persuade people to the Remain camp. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/9 "2016-06-10T09:27:52Z")
I dunno, anecdotally, I know a fair number of people (normally middle-aged), who still see Blair as a positive figure. I don’t agree myself, but I still think he has credit with a not-insignificant part of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/10 "2016-06-10T09:40:20Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > I dunno, anecdotally, I know a fair number of people (normally middle-aged), who still see Blair as a positive figure. I don’t agree myself, but I still think he has credit with a not-insignificant part of the country. There were a lot of people who voted for Blair but not Brown and certainly not Miliband. There are a lot of people who don’t regard the Iraq War as an unforgivable stain on Britain’s moral character. Where those intersect, Blair looks good in comparison to his successors. And he has always, always, been amazingly good at convincing people who don’t start off by agreeing with him. A considerably under-rated virtue. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/11 "2016-06-10T10:46:40Z")
Yes, Blair is far from ‘toxic’, in fact he still retains much of his old popularity in the UK, especially in comparison with the present Labour leadership. As for any criminal charges in relation to Iraq, ain’t gonna happen nor should it in my opinion. The whole area was an explosion waiting to happen and that explosion would have come soon anyway, with or without Western intervention. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/12 "2016-06-10T11:06:03Z")
I note that Blair still denies being warned that the misbegotten invasion might lead to chaos. But repetition does not change lies to truth. [From a March 2002 N.Y. Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/17/world/saudis-warn-against-attack-on-iraq-by-the-united-states.html): > [@](#): > > At virtually every stop in the Arab world, Mr. Cheney has been told that an American military strike would destabilize the region. [The N.Y. Times also reported](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/28/politics/prewar-assessment-on-iraq-saw-chance-of-strong-divisions.html): > [@](#): > > … two classified reports prepared for President Bush in January 2003 by the National Intelligence Council … predicted that an American-led invasion of Iraq would increase support for political Islam and would result in a deeply divided Iraqi society prone to violent internal conflict. > > One of the reports also warned of a possible insurgency against the new Iraqi government or American-led forces, saying that rogue elements from Saddam Hussein’s government could work with existing terrorist groups or act independently to wage guerrilla warfare, the officials said. The assessments also said a war would increase sympathy across the Islamic world for some terrorist objectives … Et cetera, et cetera. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-war-criminal-ii/756908/13 "2016-06-10T11:39:04Z")
Ok, I accept that not everyone thinks that Blair is “toxic”, although I don’t know anyone who would currently vote for him. [Here’s Michael Moore’s take on Blair and Brexit.](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jun/09/michael-moore-britain-is-a-toxic-place-tony-blair-brexit-jeremy-corbyn)