In all the discussion of Chilcot, including on regime change in Iraq, there seems no recognition of the unpleasant fact that virtually every successful removal of a dictator has come from that individual’s own people and not from an outside force (“The Iraq disaster helps explain why Britain is in this dark place”, Comment).
Whether it was Suharto in Indonesia, Marcos in the Philippines, Galtieri in Argentina or even Franco and Salazar in Europe and, more recently, Milosevic in Serbia, it is a salutary record.
Compare this with the miserable outcome of the allies’ removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Gaddafi in Libya. The worthy aim of western allies to relieve the desperate situation of civilians struggling under a vicious regime needs to be set against the likelihood of the resulting situation being probably worse.
If a dictator is not a direct threat to this country or to an ally, then governments should be very wary of taking action, however altruistic the motive. Far better to find ways and means of assisting the citizens within and without such countries.
Michael Meadowcroft
Leeds
The vilification of Mr Blair in the wake of Chilcot was disgraceful. How refreshing then to read that rational and enlightened article by Andrew Rawnsley. I regard Tony Blair as a hero. The majority of the people of the whole island of Ireland would join me in expressing gratitude to him for the role he played in bringing peace to our country. A peace that was unimagined when I was growing up there.
But with Brexit threatening to ignite again the hostilities of the past along our borders, we need Mr Blair more than ever. To preserve that peace now will be his continued gift to us and we shall continue to be grateful. That is our hope.
Father John Buckley
Portchester
Hampshire
According to Andrew Rawnsley, Tony Blair still refuses to admit even with hindsight that taking Britain to war in Iraq was a mistake because this “would be to say to the bereaved that their loved ones died in vain for a terrible folly”. (“Ten things that Chilcot’s verdict reveals about Tony Blair and the Iraq war”, News.) But admitting his mistake would surely make the bereaved feel better, not worse, and Blair must know this.
A few months after the invasion, he famously told the Labour party conference: “I can only go one way. I’ve not got a reverse gear”, a paraphrase of Margaret Thatcher’s: “The lady’s not for turning”. His defiance continues to trump his empathy.
Joseph Palley
Richmond
Surrey
