British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday, July 26, that the world must make progress on issues used by terrorists as a reason for violence such as the Middle East conflict, admitting that the Iraq war was used to recruit terrorists.”There are obviously certain things in government and the international community we have to do to try to take away the legitimate causes upon which people prey,” Blair told his regular monthly press conference, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He asserted that making progress on issues such as Palestinian statehood was “important”.
“There is a legitimate concern but that doesn’t justify in the slightest way the suicide bombings or terrorism, but there is a concern about that and you have to deal with it,” he said.
Two days after the July 7 attacks on London, which killed 56 people including four bombers, Blair admitted there can be no security solution to terrorist attacks, urging the world to address the underlying causes of terrorism.
David Clark, a former Labour government adviser, has said that it is time for a rethink as it should be clear by now that the world cannot defeat terrorism with conventional force alone.
“The political dimensions of this problem mean that there can be no hope of defeating terrorism until we are ready to take legitimate Arab grievances seriously,” he wrote in the Guardian on July 9.
Recruitment
Major believes that the Iraq war made Britain vulnerable to terror.
In an obvious retreat from his earlier stance, Blair acknowledged Iraq was being used to recruit terrorists, but insisted the roots of extremism were much deeper, reported the BBC News Online.
He was repeatedly quizzed about whether the Iraq war was partly to blame for London being targeted by bombers twice this month.
“They will always have a reason, and I am not saying any of these things don’t affect their warped reasoning and warped logic as to what they do or that they don’t use these things to try and recruit people.
“But I do say we shouldn’t compromise with it. I’m not saying anyone says any of these things justify it, but we shouldn’t even allow them the vestige of an excuse for what they do.”
Former British prime minister Sir John Major joined Monday, July 25, a chorus of former officials and prominent writers who believe that the Iraq war had heightened the threat of terrorist attacks in Britain.
An ICM poll for the Guardian found on July 19 that two-thirds of Britons believe the July 7 bombings in were linked to Blair’s support for the US-led invasion of Iraq.
The “ill-considered venture” of invading Iraq has turned into a “mess” fueling attacks around the world and providing Al-Qaeda with sympathizers across the Muslim world, award-winning British reporter Patrick Cockburn wrote Monday, July 25 in the Independent.
Not One Inch
Defiant Blair further said that the world, whatever excuse or justification used by terrorists, should not give one inch to them.
“Not in this country and the way we live our lives here