08 March 2022; MEMO: Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair has admitted that he "may have been wrong" in his decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq around two decades ago.
Speaking to the Anglican Church's Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, on BBC Radio 4 yesterday, Blair said that "People often say over Iraq or Afghanistan that I took the wrong decision but you've got to do what you think is right."
The former premier claimed that "Whether you are right or not is another matter. In those really big decisions, you don't know what all the different component elements are, and you've got to follow, in the end, your own instinct."
Two decades later, however, he acknowledged that his decision to launch the invasions "may have been wrong", but maintained that he "had to do what I thought was the right thing" as part of the 'war on terror.'
Despite some of Blair's policies and achievements in office having been admired by many at the time, Blair's political legacy was overshadowed by his decision to involve the UK in the US-led invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003.
The criticism levied against him also particularly targets his advocacy for the evidence he and former US President, George Bush, presented that allegedly showed Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction – evidence which has since been debunked and proven to be falsified.
This is not the first time the former premier expressed apparent regret over his decision to invade Iraq, in particular, as he apologised in 2015 and 2016 for mistakes in planning the invasion and for the false intelligence. This is, however, the first time he has publicly admitted that it "may have" been the wrong decision overall.
Controversy around Blair's tainted legacy has recently re-emerged after the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, decided to appoint Blair to the most senior order of knighthood caused outrage amongst the many in the British public. Last year, a petition was launched opposing the knighthood decision, which attained over one million signatures.
