Britain Blames Russia for Deaths of British Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan

The war in Iraq began in 2003 because of Russia, John Sawers, the former head of British intelligence service MI-6 said on December 10. The British official said during his speech at the Parliament that it was Russia that blocked the introduction of “reasonable sanctions” (suggested by the USA) against Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2001. The official believes that it could have been possible to avoid the war, if Russia had approved the sanctions.

Photo: Britain Blames Russia for Deaths of British Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan

Mr. Sawers’s remarks were voiced during the public hearings devoted to the investigation of the reasons that led to the start of the war in Iraq. Mr. Sawers served as Tony Blair’s advisor for foreign affairs in 2001 and participated in the development of the plan of “reasonable sanctions”.

In 2001, the United States and Britain offered to introduce sanctions against Iraq, which would exclude the delivery of all military cargoes to the country. Alas, the brilliant idea never materialized, because it was Russia that disagreed, as John Sawers said.

The former head of the British Intelligence said that Russia was worried about its commercial interests in Iraq, and that was the reason why Russia blocked the sanctions.

Sergey Fyodorov, a senior expert with the Institute for Europe of the Russian Academy of Science, said in an interview with Pravda.Ru that the British official was simply blame-shifting, attempting to accuse Russia of the fact that British soldiers die in Afghanistan.

“Britain must be quiet about it since this country took direct participation in the invasion of Iraq and its subsequent occupation. British special services, which Mr. Sawers represents, and their US colleagues, were the ones that made the infamous report about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

“The MI-6 head also attempts to defend the USA, because then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair supported Washington’s adventure in Iraq. A statement like that released by a high-ranking official obviously has a political goal – to worsen the relations between Russia and Britain,” the expert said.

Sergey Demidenko of the Institute of strategic estimations does not understand which “reasonable sanctions” Mr. Sawers was talking about.

“Iraq had been living in a state of isolation, nearly a blockade since the beginning of the 1990s. What military cargoes are they talking about if even civil deliveries to this country were almost impossible? Then-President Bush said at the Congress that the war against Iraq was inevitable. Who is guilty of the war in this case?” the expert said.

Sergey Balmasov
Pravda.Ru

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