MP: Conflict casts long shadows in Britain and the Middle East
As we approach the 20th anniversary of the Parliamentary vote on the Iraq war, John Baron MP said,
“Two decades on, the Iraq War still casts a large shadow here in Britain, especially so for those who served in Iraq and for their families. For Iraq and the wider region, the consequences have been tragic and severe.”
“As an MP who had only entered Parliament a few years before, it was a big decision to resign my Shadow Front Bench position and vote against the war. It was an unpopular decision amongst my Colleagues in Parliament, and it was unpopular with many in the constituency. However, I believe the passage of time has vindicated my stance – no weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq, and the Chilcot Inquiry found that war was not the measure of last resort in March 2003.”
“Quite apart from invading Iraq on a false premise, the abject failure of post-war planning gave rise to a vicious and protracted civil war. Even Tony Blair admitted the conflict sowed the seeds for the emergence of Daesh, which unleashed a fresh round of misery and destruction. Meanwhile, the war fundamentally changed the balance of power in the region, with Iran emerging as a major regional power which has been challenging.”
“One of the positive legacies of the war in Britain is that it is now inconceivable that Parliament would not vote on a decision to go to war. No intervention has been attempted again on such a scale, and the notion that stable democracies can be established by force of arms is discredited.”
“Nevertheless, the Iraq War highlighted severe problems in the workings of government. We are told that the way intelligence is used has profoundly changed; as this remain secret, we can not judge whether this is for the better. When future situations arise MPs will still have to trust the word of the Prime Minister of the day, and Iraq has undoubtedly made more difficult – which is probably for the best.”
