Steve Quayle News Alerts

July 17, 2003

WASHINGTON — British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the U.S. Congress on Thursday he believes “with every fiber of instinct and conviction” that the U.S. and British-led war on Iraq was justified. “We promised Iraq democratic government. We will deliver it,” said Blair, a staunch supporter of President Bush in the Iraq war whose visit to Washington came amid growing strains in the alliance that went to war against Iraq.

IN PREPARED REMARKS for an address to a joint House-Senate session, Blair suggested that history “will forgive” the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s government even if it turns out that he and President Bush were wrong about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, allegations used to justify the war.

But to have hesitated “in the face of this menace when we should have given leadership ... that is something that history will not forgive,” Blair said.

Blair entered the House chamber to a standing ovation of lawmakers, senior Bush administration officials and American military officials.

‘SORRY’ ABOUT THE LIBRARY

The prime minister wryly thanked his audience for a “warm and generous welcome that’s more than I deserve, and it’s more than I’m used to, quite frankly” — a reference to his own embattled state in domestic British politics.

The prime minister also thanked Congress for awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal, though he joked that he had mixed feelings knowing the first one had gone to George Washington for helping drive the British out of Boston.

Blair also delivered a personal apology for the British burning of the Library of Congress in 1814. “I know this is kind of late, but sorry,” he said as lawmakers laughed.

Blair’s visit to Congress, and then to the White House for a meeting and joint news conference with Bush, came amid deepening questions about the intelligence information both leaders used in arguing that war against Iraq was necessary.

The two leaders were the closest of allies on the war, but the relationship has been strained in recent weeks over questions about British claims that Iraq sought to buy uranium in Africa and the president’s use of such an assertion in his Jan. 28 State of the Union address.

“Can we be sure that terrorists and weapons of mass destruction will join together?” Blair asked in his speech. “But to say one thing, if we are wrong, we will have destroyed a threat that at its least is responsible for inhumane carnage and suffering. That is something I am confident history will forgive.”

WHIRLWIND TOUR

Blair is on the first leg of a seven-day whirlwind tour that takes him to Japan, South Korea, China and Hong Kong

Blair arrived aboard his British Airways jet in early afternoon and went directly to Capitol Hill. He is on the first leg of a seven-day whirlwind tour that takes him to Japan, South Korea, China and Hong Kong. He is the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of Congress since Margaret Thatcher in 1985.

His speech also touched on the war on terrorism, the Middle East peace process, the need to eradicate poverty, disease and famine in Africa, the need to promote free trade, and the need for a peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.

“This terrorism will not be defeated without peace in the Middle East,” he said.

In what appeared to be mild criticism of the Bush administration, Blair also said it was important to act in coalitions, not going it alone. “Let us start preferring a coalition and acting alone if we have to, not the other way around,” he said.

And, he called on lawmakers not to continue to bear grudges against European countries that opposed the war.

“They are our allies. And yours. So don’t give up on Europe,” he said.

‘WE WILL DELIVER IT’

“When we invade Afghanistan or Iraq, our responsibility does not end with military victory,” Blair said. “Finishing the fighting is not finishing the job ... We promised Iraq democratic government. We will deliver it.”

“We promised them the chance to use their oil wells to build prosperity for all their citizens, not a corrupt elite. We will stay with these people so in need of help until the job is done.”

“I believe with every fiber of instinct and conviction I have that we are” right in deciding to go to war without broad international support, Blair said.

Blair’s visit, meant as a thank-you, may be overshadowed by accusations both leaders face over intelligence used to justify the Iraq invasion and by British anger over U.S. plans to put two Britons on military trial as part of the war on terror.

OPPOSITION AT HOME
His listeners on Capitol Hill were less confrontational than those in the British parliament who hammered him over the intelligence that Iraq sought uranium from Niger.

Blair faced heavy criticism from opposition lawmakers at home Wednesday over his government’s use of possibly dubious intelligence ahead of the war in Iraq, and Bush has come under fire for referring to some of that intelligence — that Iraq sought uranium in Africa — in his State of the Union address.

The leaders are almost certain to discuss that intelligence and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq since the war.

His listeners on Capitol Hill were far less confrontational than the crowd he faced in the British parliament Wednesday, when opposition lawmakers hammered him over the intelligence that Iraq sought uranium from Niger.

“No, I do not accept that people were misled at all,” Blair said, raising his voice above heckling and jeering in a rambunctious session of the House of Commons.

Blair said he stands by “entirely the claim that was made last September” that there were intelligence reports that Iraq was seeking uranium in Africa. Some of the documents cited as evidence of the Africa link have been exposed as forgeries.

IRAQ-NIGER LINKS PROBED

Two parliamentary committees are probing the British government’s use of intelligence information in a pair of dossiers published to bolster the case for war. The committees have looked closely at two issues: a claim that Iraq was capable of deploying some chemical or biological weapons within 45 minutes, and the claim about Niger.

Blair said Wednesday it was “not beyond the bounds of possibility” that Iraq had sought supplies of uranium in Niger, where it had purchased tons of the substance in the 1980s.

The Bush administration has since said the statement about uranium fell short of the standards necessary for a presidential address. British newspapers have pounced on the differing stance and questioned whether the so-called special relationship between London and Washington is under strain.

PRISONERS TEST TIES

U.S.-British ties have also been strained by the fate of two British terrorist suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay.

Blair is under pressure to raise the issue of Moazzam Begg, 35, and Feroz Abbasi, 23 — Britons being held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. More than 200 British lawmakers signed a parliamentary motion protesting any American plans to try them before a military tribunal.

The government says it has “strong reservations” about such a process and insists they must have a fair trial.

“This is an issue which is subject to continuing discussions with the Americans,” a Blair aide said.

Newspapers see the case as a key test of the Anglo-U.S.-relations and whether Blair’s partnership with Bush in the war on terror will bear fruit.

ASIA ON THE ITINERARY

Officials say Blair’s visit to China will be a chance to improve relations. But the prime minister’s visit to the former British colony of Hong Kong comes at a sensitive time.

The nine-month old crisis surrounding North Korea’s nuclear development will play a significant part in the rest of the prime minister’s trip, particularly in China.

The nuclear standoff flared last October when U.S. officials said Pyongyang admitted having a secret nuclear program in violation of a 1994 pact with Washington.

China’s role is pivotal because it exerts considerable leverage over the North as a major source of food and fuel to its impoverished neighbor. In April it hosted the first formal talks between Washington and Pyongyang since the dispute began.

Officials say Blair’s visit to China will be a chance also to improve diplomatic and trade relations. But the prime minister’s visit to the former British colony of Hong Kong comes at a sensitive time. In recent weeks, thousands of demonstrators have staged rallies ago a proposed anti-subversion law which they say threatens civil rights.

Britain says it still has an “enduring moral and political” responsibility to the territory. But the issue could strain relations with Beijing if the prime minister is drawn into the dispute, which has thrown Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa’s government into a crisis.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/940188.asp?0cv=CA01