Benn on Iraq: 'a war crime'
Updated on 19 March 2008
Was it worth it? Tony Benn gives his verdict on the legacy of the Iraq war, as part of our series of viewpoints from social and political voices.
Watch Tony Benn give his verdict
Read a transcript of Benn's verdict
"President Bush decided to invade Iraq when he became president in the year 2000, long before 9/11. He wanted the oil, he wanted the bases in the middle east to strengthen American power.
"That invasion was a war crime in international law. It breached the charter of the UN and Mr Blair went along with it. And both the president and the prime minister lied about the reasons for the war; it had nothing whatever to do with democracy in Iraq, nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction.
"And over a million Iraqis have been killed - men, women and children. Two million Iraqis are now refugees.
"And not only is it a deeply immoral war but it's an unwinnable war and we shall soon discover that the Americans have to withdraw from Iraq as they withdrew from Vietnam and that is what we shall be demanding now."
More voices
To see all the voices - including General Sir Mike Jackson, George Galloway, Peter Oborne and Inayat Bunglawala - give their verdict on the legacy of the Iraq war, click on the image below. Click on the image below
