Ferguson on Iraq: 'credibility lost'
Updated on 19 March 2008
Was it worth it? Historian Niall Ferguson gives his verdict on the legacy of the Iraq war, as part of our series of viewpoints from social and political voices.
Watch Niall Ferguson give his verdict
Read a transcript of Ferguson's verdit
"A legacy of Iraq is financial. One estimate says that this war, when all is said and done, could cost $3tr which is a large sum in anybody's terms.
"And then you have to think of the legacy that's intangible - the loss of credibility suffered by the United States and the United Kingdom who claimed they were invading Iraq to pre-empt Saddam's use of weapons of mass destruction and to stop his support for terrorism.
"Well, it turned out that he didn't have WMD and he barely had any communications at all with al-Qaeda.
"Finally I think you have to look at the long lasting legacy in terms of the loss of legitimacy. The United States had a huge political capital after the attacks of September 11 2001 - and that's all gone. In fact the United States is probably as unpopular in the rest of the world as at any time since the end of World War II.
"In that sense it would have been cheaper to have stayed with the original policy of containing Saddam Hussein with sanctions and fly-overs. It's cost much, much more to get rid of him. But, of course, that's a judgement we can make with the benefit of hindsight."
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
