Washington, Dec 11: British Prime Minister Tony
Blair yesterday said the consequences of a strategic failure in
Iraq were immense and that the situation was one of acting
in urgency.
Claiming that he does not regret the initial decision to
join the United States in the war on Iraq, Blair said the
international community would have had a different set of
problems were Saddam Hussein and his sons running the show in
Baghdad now.
"...To be absolutely blunt about it, we have to make sure
this works. And I don't think, at the moment, this is a time
to start hypothesizing if it doesn't work. It's got to be made
to work, because the consequences, as they rightly say, of
strategic failure are immense. We are in a situation where we
need to act urgently" he said on a television programme addressing a range of questions on Iraq.
The British Prime Minister also disagreed with Senator
McCain's response to the findings of the Iraq study group.
The Arizona Republican seen as the grand old party's
possible nominee for the presidential elections of 2008 argued
that the Iraq study group report was a recipe for disaster for
the only thing worse than an overstretched armed forces was a
defeated army and marine corps.
"There are two ways you can do this. One way is you can
do what Senator McCain is suggesting and you can boost the
American forces there. The problem is this: if, when you surge
the American forces, the Iraqi capability isn't there to come
in behind it, then your respite is only temporary," he said.
Bureau Report
