Tony Blair poses the '2010 question' to the Iraq inquiry
Tony Blair has denied striking a "covert" deal with George Bush to invade Iraq at a private meeting in 2002 at the US president's ranch.
He told the Iraq inquiry there was no secret about what was said - that Saddam Hussein had to be dealt with and "the method of doing that is open".
The former prime minister was also quizzed about the claim Saddam could launch weapons at 45 minutes' notice.
He said "it would have been better" if headlines about it had been corrected.
Mr Blair used the morning session to mount an impassioned defence of the decision to go to war, telling the inquiry: "This isn't about a lie or a conspiracy or a deceit or a deception.
"It's a decision. And the decision I had to take was, given Saddam's history, given his use of chemical weapons, given the over one million people whose deaths he had caused, given 10 years of breaking UN resolutions, could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his weapons programmes or is that a risk that it would be irresponsible to take?"
'Not dissembling'
Sometimes it is important not to ask the "March 2003 question" but the "2010 question", said Mr Blair, arguing that if Saddam had been left in power the UK and its allies would have "lost our nerve" to act.
Quoting frequently from his own speeches and statements, Mr Blair answered questions about his working relationship with George Bush, the intelligence used to justify to the public and the unsuccessful diplomatic efforts at the UN aimed at averting it.
http://newageislam.com/blair-denies--covert--deal-with-bush-to-invade-iraq/islamic-world-news/d/2431
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