Al Qaida ‘Duped allies into waging war’
One of al Qaida’s aims in its September 11 attacks on the US three years ago was to draw the west into military conflict on Arab soil, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s former envoy to Iraq acknowledged today.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock’s comments appeared to give some credence to the argument of critics of the Iraq War that the US and UK played into al Qaida’s hands by launching last year’s invasion.
They used the belligerent aggressiveness of the neocons to their own advantage, yes they did, and suckered them into a quaqmire. All of which was made considerably easier by the neocons belief in their inerrancy and in believing their military could not be defeated. Both beliefs, of course, have been proven by events to be delusions.
Sir Jeremy today said the allies had “suffered the consequences” in Iraq of al Qaida’s determination to exploit the opportunities presented by a war on Arab soil.
He said that the West could not defeat bin Laden’s terror network by military means alone, but must adopt policies to reduce resentment in the Muslim world.
If the allies failed to help Iraq put an end to its current instability, they would be left “worse off than when we started”, he warned.