EMM News Explorer: Tony Blair

[-said]: What's important is not to ask the March 2003 Question, but to ask the 2010 Question,

TurkishDailyNews 07-FEB-10

[-said]: The decision I took — and frankly would take again — was, if there was any possibility that he could develop weapons of mass destruction, we would stop him,

jpost 04-FEB-10

[ said]: No, the absolutely key issue was the WMD issue,

ISN 02-FEB-10

[-admitted]: Further work with the US is needed…you should be aware that the US and the international humanitarian community are not properly prepared to deal with the immediate humanitarian issues.

channel4news 02-FEB-10

[-told]: Wing and a prayer

aljazeera 02-FEB-10

[-told]: Let’s have new relationship

middle 01-FEB-10

[replied:]: I did believe it, frankly, beyond doubt.

middle 01-FEB-10

[responded:]: I don't think Christopher Meyer was ever at the critical meeting.

sundaymail 01-FEB-10

[says:]: I'd do it again,

ChinaPost 31-JAN-10

[-said]: The decision I took - and frankly would take again - was, if there was any possibility that he could develop weapons of mass destruction, we would stop him,

nzherald 31-JAN-10

[-said]: It was my view then and that is my view now.

nzherald 31-JAN-10

[said:]: The American view throughout has been, ‘This leopard isn’t going to change his spots’.

icWales 31-JAN-10

[said:]: It wasn't that objectively [Saddam] had done more ... It was that our perception of the risk had shifted.

independent 30-JAN-10

[said was:]: denounced,

bignewsnetwork 30-JAN-10

[-said]: The decision I took—and frankly would take again—was, if there was any possibility that he could develop weapons of mass destruction, we would stop him,

japantoday 30-JAN-10

[-warned that]: We need to be much clearer, as voters, with our politicians and with our candidates that we expect a different behaviour and a greater integrity in our democracy next time.

guardian 30-JAN-10

[said:]: My fear was – and I would say I hold this fear stronger today than I did back then as a result of what Iran particularly today is doing – my fear is that states that are highly repressive or failed, the danger of a WMD link is that they become porous, they construct all sorts of different alliances with people.

irishtimes 30-JAN-10

[-responded]: Parliament can be a tricky forum to engage in a nuanced exercise,

guardian 30-JAN-10

[said:]: This isn’t about a lie or a conspiracy or a deceit or a deception. It’s a decision. And the decision I had to take was, given Saddam’s history, given his use of chemical weapons, given the over one million people whose deaths he had caused, given 10 years of breaking UN resolutions, could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his weapons programmes or is that a risk that it would be irresponsible to take?

icWales 30-JAN-10

[ said]: The decision I took – and frankly would take again – was if there was any possibility that he could develop weapons of mass destruction we should stop him,

icWales 30-JAN-10

[-said]: But in the end, we got to the point in the middle of March where frankly we had to decide,

cnn 30-JAN-10

[-told]: I had to take this decision as prime minister. And it was a huge responsibility then, and there's not a single day that passes by that I don't reflect and think about that responsibility,

latimes 30-JAN-10

[insisted:]: I think all countries who took military action believed they had a sound legal basis for doing so.

HindustanTimes 30-JAN-10

[says:]: I'd do it again

abc 30-JAN-10

[-acknowledged that]: After six years or seven years there is no success on the ground, in any aspect.

aljazeera 30-JAN-10

[said:]: I had to take this decision as prime minister. It was a huge responsibility and there is not a single day that passes by that I don’t reflect and think about that responsibility and so I should.

icWales 30-JAN-10

[-acknowledged]: Although the American mindset had changed dramatically – and frankly mine had as well – when I talked to other leaders, particularly in Europe, I didn’t get the same impression.

examiner 30-JAN-10

[-said]: He [Saddam] had used them, he definitely had them ... and so in a sense it would have required quite strong evidence the other way to be doubting the fact that he had this programme,

aljazeera 30-JAN-10

[-told]: The crucial thing after 9/11 is that the calculus of risk changed... After September 11, if you were a regime engaged in WMD (weapons of mass destruction), you had to stop.

cnn 30-JAN-10

[-said]: It’s a decision. And the decision I had to take was, given Saddam’s history, given his use of chemical weapons, given the over 1 million people whose deaths he had caused, given 10 years of breaking U.N. resolutions, could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his weapons program?

japantoday 30-JAN-10

[-said]: This isn't about a lie or a conspiracy or a deceit or a deception; it's a decision. And the decision I had to take was, given Saddam's history, given his use of chemical weapons, given the over 1 million people whose deaths he caused, given 10 years of breaking U.N. resolutions, could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his weapons program?

latimes 30-JAN-10

[said:]: After 11 September, our view, the American view, changed and changed dramatically.

channel4news 30-JAN-10

[-said]: This isn't about a lie, or a conspiracy, or a deceit, or a deception,

HindustanTimes 30-JAN-10

[ said]: My assessment of risk prior to September 11th was that Saddam was a menace, that he was a threat, he was a monster, but we would have to try and make best [of it],

chosun 30-JAN-10

[-acknowledged]: The link between Iran having nuclear weapons capability and those types of terrorist organizations it's the combination that makes it particularly dangerous.

chosun 30-JAN-10

[-said]: It's a decision. And the decision I had to take was, given Saddam's history, given his use of chemical weapons, given the over 1 million people whose deaths he had caused, given 10 years of breaking UN resolutions, could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his weapons program?

HindustanTimes 30-JAN-10

[-said]: The decision I took _ and frankly would take again _ was, if there was any possibility that he could develop weapons of mass destruction, we would stop him,

HindustanTimes 30-JAN-10

[-told]: We are going to be with you in confronting and dealing with this threat,

cnn 30-JAN-10

[-said]: This isn’t about a lie, or a conspiracy, or a deceit, or a deception,

japantoday 30-JAN-10

[said:]: I think it's pretty obvious when you go back and look at (UN resolution] 1441 that a decent case can be made (for war].

TheScotsman 30-JAN-10

[ said]: 2010 question

novinite 30-JAN-10

[-said]: The only commitment I gave – and I gave this very openly at the time – was a commitment to deal with Saddam,

examiner 30-JAN-10

[ said]: When I look at the way that Iran today links up with terror groups... a large part of the destabilization in the Middle East at the present time comes from Iran,

chosun 30-JAN-10

[ said]: When I look at the way that Iran today links up with terror groups a large part of the destabilization in the Middle East at the present time comes from Iran,

globalsecurity 30-JAN-10

[said:]: It was divisive and I’m sorry about that but I tried my level best to bring people back together again.

focusnews 30-JAN-10

[said:]: It wasn't that objectively he had done more. It was that our perception of the risk had shifted.

TheScotsman 30-JAN-10

[ said]: I didn't want America to feel that it had no option but to do it on its own,

chosun 30-JAN-10

[-said that]: The one thing I was not doing was dissembling in that position. The position was not a covert position, it was an open position.

cnn 30-JAN-10

[-admitted]: How we did that was an open question, and even at that stage I was raising the issue of going to the UN.

HindustanTimes 30-JAN-10

[ said]: This isn’t about a lie, or a conspiracy, or a deceit, or a deception, this is a decision,

stabroeknews 30-JAN-10

[said:]: In the end, it was divisive; I’m sorry about that

heraldscotland 30-JAN-10

[said:]: I think that he was a monster. I believe he threatened not just the region but the world. And in the circumstances that we faced then, but I think even if you look back now, it was better to deal with this threat, to remove him from office.

icWales 30-JAN-10

[answered:]: I did believe it. And I did believe it beyond doubt.

guardian 30-JAN-10

[-said]: The crucial thing after September 11 is that the calculus of risk changed,

HindustanTimes 30-JAN-10

[-said]: the point of decision has not yet been reached

icWales 30-JAN-10

[ said]: I believed … we were right not to run that risk,

stabroeknews 30-JAN-10

[said:]: We did have a very structured debate with the people. I mean, the fact that it happened at Chequers rather than Downing Street I don't think is particularly relevant to it. I think the simple answer is did we consider those other options? - absolutely. That's why we had the paper drawn up.

dailymail 29-JAN-10

[saying:]: I think, myself, that the arguments he is putting are right. I think history will judge him in part influenced by what the tribunal of inquiry eventually decides. Because remember they have access to all of the documents.

channel4news 29-JAN-10

[-said today]: life a lot easier

independent 29-JAN-10

[ said]: You have to make a judgment,

guardian 29-JAN-10

[-said that]: terror groups

ynetnews 29-JAN-10

[-said]: It would have been better to have corrected it in light of the significance it later took on,

guardian 29-JAN-10

[-said]: After that time, my view was you could not take risks with this issue at all,

AP 29-JAN-10

[-said]: Up to September 11, we thought he (Saddam) was a risk but we thought it was worth trying to contain it,

reuters 29-JAN-10

[ said]: If Peter (Lord Goldsmith) had said: ‘This would not be justified lawfully’, we would have been unable to take action,

heraldscotland 29-JAN-10

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