Blair defends Iraq war
2004-06-04 12:02
London - Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday defended his decision to go to war in Iraq, saying he had judged it better for world security to remove Saddam Hussein from power.
However, Blair said that, after seven years in office, he had come to accept that not all his decisions were popular.
"What you learn in this job is that you can't please all the people all the time," he told British Broadcasting Corporation TV. "Indeed, sometimes pleasing some of the people some of the time is quite tough. But that's part of the job."
Britain's involvement in the war prompted strong domestic opposition, damaging Blair's political standing.
But the prime minister insisted that joining the US-led invasion of Iraq had been the right thing to do, even though their troops have found no weapons of mass destruction - the main justification Blair gave last year for going to war.
"We know Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, he used them," Blair said. "What we know also is that we haven't yet found them. We need to resolve what has happened to that.
The threat he posed
"There is no doubt about the strategic intent of Saddam Hussein or the threat that he posed. In the end I had to take a decision. Do you allow him to stay there or do you remove him? And I took the view ultimately it was better for the security of the world to remove him."
Speculation about Blair's leadership future has been rife in recent months, largely due to unrest within his ruling Labour Party over his support for the Iraq war. Treasury chief Gordon Brown is widely considered the most likely candidate to take over from Blair.
But, in the BBC interview, the prime minister showed no intention of quitting before the next general election, expected to take place around May 2005.
"I'm up for the job," he said. "I still think there's a lot to do," adding that the government needed to tackle problems in schooling, health and law and order.
Blair added that the government was keeping under review plans to raise fuel tax by 1.9 pence per litre in September. In the wake of surging world oil prices, a loose coalition of truckers and farmers has threatened to blockade fuel depots if prices do not fall.
"I think it's sensible to keep it under review," Blair said. "We can't give a decision yet; it's not necessary to give a decision, but we keep it under review."
- AP