Tony Blair Iraq Quotations

In April 1991, after the Gulf war, Iraq was given 15 days to provide a full and final declaration of all its WMD.

If they pull out it would be catastrophic for the people of Iraq and the cause of democracy and it would be a win for terrorists,

The accumulation of weapons of mass destruction by Iraq poses a threat, a threat not just to the region but to the wider world, and I think George Bush was absolutely right to raise it.

We know the future that they have in mind for the people of Iraq and we reject it utterly, as do the overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people,

We're not saying that the future of Iraq should be governed by the Americans and the British, we're saying the future of Iraq should be governed by the Iraqi people.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that what is happening in Iraq now is crucial for our own security, ... Never mind the security of Iraq or the greater Middle East. It is crucial for the security of the world.

an important staging post on the journey of the people of Iraq toward a new future, one in which democracy replaces dictatorship, in which freedom replaces repression, and in which all the people of Iraq can look forward to the possibility and the hope of an Iraq that genuinely guarantees a future for people from whatever part of Iraq they come.

I know Iraq has been a divisive issue in this country, but I hope now that we can unite again and look to the future there and here,

The idea that we did not have a plan for afterwards is simply not correct. We did, and we have unfolded that plan, but there are people in Iraq who are determined to stop us.

the chaos and violence in Iraq is worse than he ever expected.

Repressive states are developing weapons that could cause destruction on a massive scale.

I mean, you can agree or disagree with Iraq or Afghanistan, but by the way, now the great campaigning cause out there is the absence of intervention in Syria. And then in Libya, it's partial intervention. And that doesn't really explain why some countries that have literally nothing to do with the interventions in the Middle East end up getting targeted.

As I have said throughout, I have no doubt that they will find the clearest possible evidence of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.

I don't think it's surprising we will have to look for them. I'm confident that when the Iraq Survey Group has done its work we will find what's happened to those weapons because he had them.

What we also know is we haven't found them [weapons of mass destruction] in Iraq - now let the survey group complete its work and give us the report... They will not report that there was no threat from Saddam, I don't believe.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the intelligence was genuine.

It is absurd to say in respect of any intelligence that it is infallible, but if you ask me what I believe, I believe the intelligence was correct, and I think in the end we will have an explanation.

What is true about (ex-Iraq Survey Group head) David Kay's evidence, and this is something I have to accept, and is one of the reasons why I think we now need a new inquiry - it is true David Kay is saying we have not found large stockpiles of actual weapons.

The Iraq Survey Group has already found massive evidence of a huge system of clandestine laboratories, workings by scientists, plans to develop long range ballistic missiles.

The world is a better place with Saddam in prison not in power.

I don't concede it at all that the intelligence at the time was wrong.

I have absolutely no doubt at all that we will find evidence of weapons of mass destruction programmes.

The view we took at the time and we take it now is that the war was justified legally because he [Saddam Hussein] remained in breach of UN resolutions.

Retreat might give us a moment of respite but years of repentance at our weakness would, I believe, follow.

We promise that the events of 1991 will not happen again - we have pledged to remove Saddam and we will deliver

We are asked now seriously to accept that in the last few years-contrary to all history, contrary to all intelligence-Saddam decided unilaterally to destroy those weapons. I say that such a claim is palpably absurd.

If we don't act now, then we will go back to what has happened before and then of course the whole thing begins again and he carries on developing these weapons and these are dangerous weapons, particularly if they fall into the hands of terrorists who we know want to use these weapons if they can get them.

The biological agents we believe Iraq can produce include anthrax, botulinum, toxin, aflatoxin and ricin. All eventually result in excruciatingly painful death.

The money from Iraqi oil will be yours - it will no longer be used by Saddam Hussein for his own benefit

There are unquestionably links between al Qaida and Iraq.

There are literally thousands of sites. As I was told in Iraq, information is coming in the entire time, but it is only now that the Iraq survey group has been put together that a dedicated team of people, which includes former UN inspectors, scientists and experts, will be able to go in and do the job properly.

And the problem is, I can apologise for the information that turned out to be wrong, but I can't, sincerely at least, apologise for removing Saddam.

The evidence about Saddam having actual biological and chemical weapons, as opposed to the capability to develop them, has turned out to be wrong. I acknowledge that and accept it. I simply point out, such evidence was agreed by the whole international community, not least because Saddam had used such weapons against his own people and neighbouring countries.

They could have been removed. They could have been hidden. They could have been destroyed.

We expected, I expected to find actual usable, chemical or biological weapons after we entered Iraq.

It [the intelligence service] concludes that Iraq has chemical and biological weapons, that Saddam has continued to produce them, that he has existing and active military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons, which could be activated within 45 minutes, including against his own Shia population; and that he is actively trying to acquire nuclear weapons capability...

The intelligence is clear: (Saddam) continues to believe his WMD programme is essential both for internal repression and for external aggression.