New Labour, New Century 2001-7: 6 Tony Blair, the USA and Iraq Flashcards
what was 9/11?
11 September 2001 in the USA
al-Qaeda (Islamic terrorist group) hijacked 4 commercial aircraft
2 were flown into the twin towers in New York causing both to collapse
death toll was over 3000
‘war on terror’
what was Blair’s reaction to 9/11?
committed himself to the ‘war on terror’ also
announced that Britain stood solider to soldier with their American friends
event turned Blair into President George W. Bush’s most dependable ally
month after Blair sent British troops to support the US forces in their attack on al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan
what was the Blair doctrine?
announced in a speech in Chicago in 1999
believed best way to defeat tyranny in the world was by persuading oppressive regimes to behave better
it was legitimate to use force to oblige aggressor states to conform to internationally agreed standards of conduct
UN was ultimate international authority - though sometimes acted too slowly
Blair also believed NATO were entitled to act as international peacekeeper
what did the dossier claim?
‘dodgy dossier’
that Saddam Hussain’s weapons of mass destruction programme was active, detailed and growing and would have the capacity of launching airstrikes against Britain within a 45 minute time span
(this provided justification for invading Iraq)
why did Bush proceed to invade Iraq despite lack of UN resolution?
believed China and Russia would block the resolution politically rather than on principle
he gave Blair an opportunity to back out but Blair decline
France and Germany found the grounds for military intervention unconvincing and did not invade
when did the Iraq invasion begin?
20 March 2003 without formal sanction from the UN
mass anti-war demonstrations were held in London and former foreign secretary Robin Cook resigned in protest
rebel Labour MP, George Galloway set up his own anti-war party. why?
Respect - founded in 2004 as a socialist breakaway group from the Labour Party
he believed Blair was the initiator rather than follower in his relations to the president (others saw Blair as Bush’s poodle)
was the military operation successful?
yes - by the middle of April 2003 Saddam Hussain’s forces were broken and the allies declared the major combat was over
lack of plan however regarding victory - Hussain was removed though it did not lead to peace
a civil war followed between rival Muslim and regional factions fighting each other
Hussain was captured in December 2003
the allies who intended to liberate Iraq became occupiers
when Blair stood down as PM, US and British forces were still in Iraq with no prospect of leaving
what was the issue of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)?
the US and British allies failed to discover any evidence of WMD in Iraq
questions whether the dossier was exaggerated in order to support going to war
what happened to David Kelly?
committed suicide
journalist, Andrew Gilligan, went public in the press accusing the government of ‘sexing up’ the document as per Dr David Kelly (a weapon expert working for the gov’s defence ministry)’s findings though it was later revealed Kelly had taken his own life
an inquiry (the Hutton report) published in January 2004 cleared the government of any direct involvement in his death. it had examined 70 witnesses including spin doctor Alistair Campbell and Blair
when were the London bombings?
7 July 2005 killing 56 people and injuring 700
the suicide bombers were all young British Islamists
2 weeks later a similar bomb plot was foiled at the last minute when police arrested the intended assassins
Muslim leaders were quick to condemn the assassins and plotters
what did critics believe of the London bombings?
that they were a direct consequence of the Iraq war
- removal of Hussain not enough to justify war
- declaring ‘war on terror’ and selecting particular targets to attack encouraged the forces of terrorism they were trying to defeat
- anglo-american hostility to Islam which the war revealed led to retaliation by Islamist extremists who became jihadists in order to defend their faith against the ‘corrupt Satanic’ West
