By Telesur
Lord John Prescott admitted that he and Tony Blair “were wrong” to invade Iraq.
March 16, 2015 "ICH" - "Telesur" - A former U.K. deputy prime minister has accused Tony Blair of radicalizing young British Muslims with his “bloody crusades.”
Speaking at fundraiser, Lord Prescott, who served as Blair's deputy, admitted that the pair “were wrong” to invade Iraq.
“I was with Tony Blair on Iraq. We were wrong. They told us it wasn't regime change. It was. And that's exactly what the Americans have had. Now Tony, unfortunately is still in to that. I mean the way he's going now, he now wants to invade everywhere,” Prescott said in remarks made last month but which came to light over the weekend.
“He should put a white coat on with a red cross and let's start the bloody crusades again,” he added.
The veteran Labour politician went on to directly link Blair's invasions with young Muslims' joining violent Islamic groups.
Lord Prescott added, “When I hear people talking about how people are radicalized, young Muslims. I'll tell you how they are radicalized. Every time they watch the television where their families are worried, their kids are being killed and murdered and rockets firing on all these people, that's what radicalizes them.”
A number of young British Muslims have joined militant group Islamic State. Three young British men were stopped from entering Syria from Turkey Sunday, and three teenage girls remain missing.
Blair could face war crimes charges once a heavily-delayed investigation into the Iraq War is published, the upper house of the U.K. Parliament was told earlier this year.
Members of the House of Lords, led by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Hugh Dykes, posed questions about the Chilcot Inquiry, the British public inquiry into the nation’s role in the war in Iraq, and asked why its release has been prolonged by more than four years.
Blair has been accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and human rights abuses for his decision to bring Britain into the Iraq War after it was revealed that there was no proof that the Middle Eastern country had weapons of mass destruction, nor that its then-president Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 terror attacks.
Campaign groups like “Arrest Blair” have long called for the former prime minister to be tried by the International Criminal Court, and have offered financial rewards to anyone who attempts a citizen's arrest on him.
