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Blair admits being warned Iraq war would increase terrorist threat

IRNA

London, Oct 16, IRNA -- Prime Minister Tony Blair has confirmed for 
the first time that he was warned by British intelligence that 
invading Iraq would increase the threat posed by al-Qaeda. 
"The assessment I received was that the greatest terrorist threat 
to Western interests came from al-Qaeda and related groups, and that 
this threat would be heightened by military action against Iraq," 
Blair said in a written reply to parliament on Wednesday. 
But he argued that in making the decision to launch the war, he 
`had to weigh all the factors, including the possible short-term risk 
of increased terrorism, against the longer term risks of rogue states 
developing weapons of mass destruction`. 
The warning to Blair on the eve of the war that the invasion would
increase the dangers of terrorist attacks was revealed by last month`s
publication of the parliamentary intelligence and security committee 
report on Iraq`s arms threat. 
His admission of being advised came Wednesday as the London-based 
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) warned that the 
war against Iraq had swollen the ranks of al-Qaeda and `galvanized its
will` by increasing radical passions among Muslims. 
IISS director John Chipman said that although al-Qaeda may lack 
the capacity to stage a mass-casualty attack on US soil comparable to 
9.11, `the operational cycle for large and complex al-Qaeda operations
can exceed the 25 months that have passed since`. 
Until the network was ready to attempt another mass attack on 
American soil, a spectacular attack on US personnel in Iraq could be 
regarded as a `feasible substitute`, he said. 
HC/AH/210 
End