Tony Blair 'regrets loss of life' of Iraq war

www.timesofearth.com LONDON - Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, has told an inquiry into Britain’s role in the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that he profoundly regretted the loss of life in the conflict. His remarks to the inquiry - the second time the former British prime minister has appeared before the investigation - sparked angry shouts of "too late" from dead soldiers' families attending the proceedings in London. Blair said that his comments at his first hearing last year when he said that he had "no regret" had been misunderstood. "That was taken as my meaning that I had no regrets about the loss of life and that was never my meaning or my intention," he said. "I wanted to make that clear that of course I regret deeply and profoundly the loss of life, whether from our own armed forces, those of other nations, the civilians who helped people in Iraq or the Iraqis themselves." His words sparked an angry response from the packed public gallery, where a number of relatives of British soldiers killed in Iraq were sitting. Blair sent 45000 British troops as part of the US-led invasion in March 2003. Several shouted out that his words were "too late" and two women stood up, deliberately turning their backs to Blair, before they were asked to be quiet. "Your lies killed my son, I hope you can live with yourself," shouted Rose Gentle, whose 19-year-old son Gordon was killed in 2006 while serving in Basra, southern Iraq, as Blair left the hearing. Outside the ...

Channel: YouTube Video Length: 3m 8s Date Found: Fri, Jan 21 2011 9:52 PM Category: News Date Produced: Fri, Jan 21 2011 6:26 PM View Count: 0