Protracted difficulties following the invasion of Iraq made the UK "hesitant" to intervene in Syria, former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said.
In a BBC interview, Mr Blair played down the influence of the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq on the UK Parliament's decision to block military action in Syria.
Iraq had shown that interventions can be "very difficult", he conceded.
But Syria, left unchecked, could become a potent source of extremists, he said.
Mr Blair, Middle East envoy for the Quartet of the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia, warned that without foreign intervention, "you will have an Assad-dominated state, and that means in this instance an Iran-dominated state, probably around the borders of Lebanon and controlling most of the wealth of Syria.
"And then you'll have a larger geographical hinterland to the east that will be controlled by various Sunni groups, most of whom are likely in these circumstances to be extreme, and you could have a breeding ground for extremism actually much worse and much more potent than Afghanistan."
There was no question that chemical weapons had been used in Syria, he suggested, so UK MPs had not voted against intervention because they did not trust the government's assessment of the threat Syria poses.
'Rush to war'He said: "It is an issue to do with the difficulty we encounter afterwards, and that is a really really important lesson.
"The truth is, the reason why Iraq makes us hesitant is because Iraq showed that when you intervene in the circumstances, where you have this radical Islamist issue, both on the Shia side and the Sunni side, you are going to face a very difficult, tough conflict."
There is a "fundamental battle about religion and politics within Islam", he continued, which "has vast consequences for our future security".
The UK and the US should support "the majority of people in the Muslim world in fact want religion in a sensible place in politics, not trying to dominate politics", he said.
Fresh aid pledgeMr Blair's comments come as Prime Minister David Cameron announced a further £52m in UK aid for victims of the civil war in Syria.
It will bring the UK's total spending on aid for Syria and neighbouring states to £400m.
Much of the extra money will go towards medical training and equipment to help those targeted by chemical attacks.
Speaking at the G20 meeting in St Petersburg, Mr Cameron said that the move would show "a very large message" of support for the people of Syria.
The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government has been accused of using chemical weapons against civilians on several occasions during the 30-month conflict.
Some 100,000 people have died in the conflict, and more than two million Syrians are classified as refugees, according to the UN.
In a Commons vote last week, MPs rejected UK involvement in military action against the Assad regime.
Mr Cameron had advocated limited military strikes to deter further "large-scale use of chemical weapons".
Opposition leader Ed Miliband had cautioned against a "rush to war on an ill-thought through basis, not working with the international community, not going through the UN".
He added: "We must learn the lessons of Iraq about any action we take."
Former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown said after the vote: "People invented all sorts of reasons not to get involved with an international coalition led by a Democrat president of the United States to stand up for international law.
"I think it diminishes our country hugely."
What Syria means for Britain will be broadcast on Monday evening at 20:00 on BBC Radio 4.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Blair: Iraq made UK timid over Syria
Dengan url
https://sarapanoatmeal.blogspot.com/2013/09/blair-iraq-made-uk-timid-over-syria.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Blair: Iraq made UK timid over Syria
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Blair: Iraq made UK timid over Syria
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar