Bunglawala on Iraq: 'disconnect'
Updated on 19 March 2008
Was it worth it? Inayat Bunglawala gives his verdict on the legacy of the Iraq war, as part of our series of viewpoints from social and political voices.
Watch Bunglawala give his verdict
Read a transcript of Bunglawala's verdict
"We believe the war against Iraq badly damaged the confidence of many British Muslims in our democratic system here in the UK.
Many British Muslims were clearly opposed to the war in Iraq and did not accept that Saddam's Hussein's regime represented any threat to us in this country despite all the scaremongering that we saw in the run up to the war.
"So British Muslims took part in campaigning against the war, they lobbied their MPS, they took part in huge demonstrations alongside the British public. Yet still they were ignored.
"Not only by the Labour government for whom they had overwhelmingly voted in previous elections, but also by the main opposition Tory party, whose job it was to carefully scrutinise the government's case for war. And yet the Conservative party took an position that was even more gung ho in support of action against Iraq.
"It all really highlighted a massive disconnect between public opinion - including Muslim opinion - on the one side and the political classes on the other".
More voices
To see all the voices - including General Sir Mike Jackson, George Galloway, Peter Oborne and Tony Benn - give their verdict on the legacy of the Iraq war, click on the image below. Click on the image below
