Why we invaded Iraq | Alastair Campbell

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 26 апр 2014
  • SUBSCRIBE for more speakers ► is.gd/OxfordUnion
    Oxford Union on Facebook: / theoxfordunion
    Oxford Union on Twitter: @OxfordUnion
    Website: www.oxford-union.org/
    Alastair Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for prime minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003. Campbell describes himself as a "communicator, writer and strategist" on his website, while others have described him as Labour's "unelected, but ... hardly underscrutinised" spin doctor.
    At the Oxford Union he explains the government's decision
    to invade Iraq after 9/11
    ABOUT THE OXFORD UNION SOCIETY: The Union is the world's most prestigious debating society, with an unparalleled reputation for bringing international guests and speakers to Oxford. It has been established for 189 years, aiming to promote debate and discussion not just in Oxford University, but across the globe.

Комментарии • 150

  • @gazumper1314
    @gazumper1314 10 лет назад +56

    he didnt adress the quesion because he cant

    • @noobarockacus
      @noobarockacus 10 лет назад

      I think he said they invaded because they thought the same people of 911 could get their hands on WMD and they had to show they were not afraid to do something about it.

    • @Regtic
      @Regtic 10 лет назад +9

      ***** He answered the question "Why did we invade Iraq" because the question that was asked of him implied that he thought we did invade Iraq for the wrong reasons. He disagreed with that question and explained the reasoning behind why we invaded Iraq in the first place. SO of course he didn't answer the question, that would be a ridiculous expectation considering his viewpoint on the subject.

    • @Regtic
      @Regtic 10 лет назад

      If that were true, you would have known that the point you were making was stupid and wouldn't have chosen to make that reply in the first place.

    • @Regtic
      @Regtic 10 лет назад

      water is wet

    • @respectforkurt944
      @respectforkurt944 3 года назад

      ​@@Regtic where's your moral argument on this subject?- 200,000 people lost their lives for what? for what?, to get one freak psycho out of power?

  • @playerjoe
    @playerjoe 10 лет назад +33

    Millions of Iraqi's would not have died in the Arab spring. Weak argument.

    • @amuthanshan
      @amuthanshan 26 дней назад +1

      @playerjoe Saddam gassed the Kurds in his own country, of course he would have killed his own people in an Arab uprising. Obama did not intervene in Syria, and Assad went on to kill more people than died in Iraq. It is worth comparing Iraq and Syria because one country we intervened and the other country we did not, but the outcome was brutal in both cases but at least the Iraqi people can choose their leader who doesn't keep all the riches for himself.

  • @yourliestopshere
    @yourliestopshere 10 лет назад +12

    This is a joke.

  • @firas7915
    @firas7915 10 лет назад +10

    Most idiotic explanation I ever heard from a politician.
    No man with balls dare to say anything against the stream ??????
    why is it so hard to say the truth, or even something in line with the truth

  • @MartinBraonain
    @MartinBraonain 2 года назад +23

    I like Alastair Campbell as a pundit and a commentator, but this is such a weak response. They were wrong and they were complicit in the deaths of many people.

  • @michaelsteane9926
    @michaelsteane9926 2 года назад +18

    He looks SOOOOO sincere if you watch this with the sound turned off.

  • @Hightower489
    @Hightower489 10 лет назад +6

    After parsing his meandering the closest thing that came to a response to the question was "A very consistent intelligence picture was being painted". It doesn't go any deeper than that. What intelligence? What picture? We don't know, that's all we got out of this fool.

  • @adamgutteridge9664
    @adamgutteridge9664 11 месяцев назад +4

    2.59 Talking about 9/11, which is unrelated to Iraq

  • @rayana4941
    @rayana4941 Год назад +19

    I reckon Campbell knows he fucked up when it came to the invasion of Iraq, but his ego is too big for him to admit it, so he tries to muster up justifications for the war and excuses that rlly don’t make much sense but they help him live with the guilt and since he’s been repeating the same excuses and fabricated narrative for years now, he essentially starts to believe it himself and it’s now replaced the reality of what actually happened.

    • @dave9547
      @dave9547 Год назад +3

      He didn't fuck it up. He did as his masters ordered and profited handsomely from it.

    • @flyagaric1607
      @flyagaric1607 Год назад

      his life would be in danger if he didn't keep the narrative going.

    • @anncothromoir1018
      @anncothromoir1018 Год назад +1

      It's totally the diatribe of someone racked with the guilt, desperate to avoid reproach - his constant self-justification - combined with zero tolerance for contestation - is a classic coping strategy.

    • @frankmorgan5845
      @frankmorgan5845 Год назад

      @@anncothromoir1018 zero tolerance for contestation? He literally just took part in 2hours worth of a podcast based solely on Rory Stewart, one of the smartest minds in politics, grilling him and questioning/disagreeing every decision he made regarding Iraq. He consistently invited contestation and debate.

    • @anncothromoir1018
      @anncothromoir1018 Год назад

      @@frankmorgan5845 Only as a means, as he perceives it, to appear as though he is the one with the upper hand. All of his questions are aimed at tripping up and making a fool of the respondent - not at striving to understand and empathise with an alternative point of view. The man is patently obsessed with competition, domination and control.

  • @jagdavies1
    @jagdavies1 10 лет назад +43

    How to avoid answering a question - A Lesson from a Master
    How to avoid war crimes accusations - Just avoid them
    Genocide perpretated by your Government - Yes, but, it was worth it

  • @TheMassiveBadgerAHA
    @TheMassiveBadgerAHA Месяц назад +1

    this has aged well

  • @johndavies5985
    @johndavies5985 11 месяцев назад +1

    Who was right at the time, Blair and Campbell or George Galloway?

  • @Ellio1862
    @Ellio1862 6 лет назад +4

    Such a weak answer.

  • @shitguy7615
    @shitguy7615 10 лет назад +29

    He didn't mention all the oli or how wealthily Tony Blair is , that part just slips doesn't it.

    • @satellite964
      @satellite964 10 лет назад +1

      irishmanwithagun keep telling yourself that

    • @annieseriano3471
      @annieseriano3471 2 года назад

      @@satellite964 fu ck you you know its true but ur so loving your country that you dont want to admit it of course they cant teach in schools that théir countries are criminals

    • @Gleifel
      @Gleifel Год назад +1

      yes, iraq was a mistake, no it wasn't all about oil, Iraq sells most of its oil to china lol

    • @abdvs325
      @abdvs325 9 месяцев назад

      ​@@Gleifel It was at least partly and probably mostly about oil. Better to have a pro-west government in charge of the massive oil reserves. Dick cheney was the CEO of halliburton. Plenty of stories of the first private individuals arriving in Iraq being oil company employees.

  • @gagiman7273
    @gagiman7273 10 месяцев назад +2

    But everyone knows that iraq had no wmd

    • @samconran
      @samconran 5 месяцев назад

      Not quite true, though the intelligence estimates were way off. But rather misses the point--which was whether you took that risk that your own intelligence was wrong after Iraq had failed to comply with their disarmament obligations in 2003--which is what Campbell was (not very convincingly) arguing here.

  • @darkthought784
    @darkthought784 2 года назад +2

    500 % up ;)

  • @nockerparry256
    @nockerparry256 7 лет назад +4

    Sorry I can only do 2 mins of this creature. Does he answer the question at any stage?

  • @jackmellor5536
    @jackmellor5536 Год назад +3

    I would ask why does the UK have to be an interventionist country?

    • @Pfth
      @Pfth Год назад

      Right. Campbell even says that "What's going on is this ideological battle over the future of Islam" - if that's how he justifies the invasion, then what right did he imagine that Britain had - an officially Christian country - to militarily intervene? Fact is, Bush and Blair were embarking on an aggressive holy war and they were full cognizant of that. Check out their spiritual beliefs.

  • @dannffc
    @dannffc Год назад +2

    W A R C R I M I N A L

  • @robg71
    @robg71 5 лет назад +8

    That was a David Brent answer.

  • @davidnichol6282
    @davidnichol6282 Год назад +1

    Was he not employed by Blair who was Prime minister at this time. So Blair was his political leader at this time. Can Campbell really be objective on this issue.

  • @Lamilton82828
    @Lamilton82828 9 месяцев назад

    When he’s spouting his bs about mental Health when will he consider the mental health implications of his support and propagation of the lies which led to the death of a million people.

  • @jajabor2023
    @jajabor2023 Год назад +1

    What if Tony wasn't there, what if you were an Iraqi...dog

  • @jajabor2023
    @jajabor2023 Год назад

    You shouldn't be standing in front of the public, you should be hiding with your guilt, shame on you...

  • @samconran
    @samconran 5 месяцев назад

    Interesting response, kind of weak though. There's scope to be far more robust on the weaponry discussion, but he drives at the right things with his "what ifs". Certainly the way was paved for al-Qaida before the invasion and I think the question of how the salafisation of the security services and "ba'ath" (though no longer, really) hierarchy would have continued under Saddam leaves the situation up for debate. I think the idea that something like AQI wasn't coming anyway (just delayed until Saddam's inevitable death or deposition) is difficult to argue, likewise Iranian influence.

  • @expatwealthasia8702
    @expatwealthasia8702 7 месяцев назад +1

    Alastair Campbell = Master of Gaslighting

  • @adamgutteridge9664
    @adamgutteridge9664 11 месяцев назад

    4.14 Ideological battle over Islam has nothing to do with Iraq war

  • @anncothromoir1018
    @anncothromoir1018 Год назад +3

    It's like listening to Harold Shipman trying to justify why he 'had' to use diamorphine to "euthanize" his victims.

  • @sevven1
    @sevven1 10 лет назад +19

    Excellent obfuscation and evasion, Mr. Campbell! Brilliant even..

  • @adamgutteridge9664
    @adamgutteridge9664 11 месяцев назад +1

    3.52 Got rid of Sadam so he was not around for The Arab Spring?!?

    • @samconran
      @samconran 5 месяцев назад

      Clearly not true, but then again not what Campbell said either.

  • @user-eh3ou7oq4w
    @user-eh3ou7oq4w 9 месяцев назад

    If You asked this liar what his name is, He would be unable to tell You.
    I despise Him, Blair and that whole New Labour cabal. We are now facing the repercussions of what him and Blair did!
    Open borders, unfiltered migration etc etc.

  • @HistoryNiche
    @HistoryNiche 11 месяцев назад

    Don't forget Saddam had already invaded Kuwait.

  • @BIBIWCICC
    @BIBIWCICC 6 месяцев назад

    Alastair Campbell - Israel’s man on the inside.

  • @davidnichol6282
    @davidnichol6282 Год назад

    An apologist for Tony Blair he is not a statesman surprised he is involved in this comment.

  • @dub604
    @dub604 10 месяцев назад +2

    I like Alastair Campbell, I believe he's a smart, honest and decent man. When it comes to the Iraq war however he has a blind spot. Over a million dead... You can't smooth that over, it can't be justified. It's sad to watch him trying to dance on the head of a pin, he should just be honest and state what everyone knows... The Iraq war was a complete and total disaster, end of.

    • @MarxistKnight
      @MarxistKnight 6 месяцев назад

      But that's not to say the decision at the time wasn't justified. Do you really think there was any genuine belief at the time that getting rid of a BRUTAL dictator that was responsible for thousands, and possibly hundreds of thousands, of deaths himself, would open a 'Pandora's Box' of sectarian violence amongst different factions that were contained by an evil, despicable tyrant?
      I have never, and will never, understand how people can put the entirety of those people killed 'as a result' of the war at the hands of Blair and Bush. The people that killed people after the war are responsible for those deaths. It's a convenient, unfair and illegitimate hand wave to abrogate their responsibility and to put it all on Blair and Bush.
      The war wasn't a "complete and total disaster, end of"; a manic dictator was removed from power and people can now live freely in Iraq and aren't continuously in fear of their lives. I'm not for second saying massive, unjustifiable mistakes weren't made, that the aftermath was a disaster and people were in fear for their lives for a long time, or that the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people isn't unbearably tragic to say the absolute minimum, anyone with a heart couldn't disagree with that. But I can't agree that it was purely wrong, no good came of it at all, it was not at all justifiable, or that we as the invaders bear sole responsibility for everything that happened after.

  • @nickjung7394
    @nickjung7394 Год назад +1

    Campbell, of course served with distinction in the Armed forces; otherwise he would not have had the nerve to advocate sending others.

  • @Gilmore72
    @Gilmore72 10 лет назад +4

    It seems to me he never read history, what a shame... Not very convincing for me!

  • @theotaylor1320
    @theotaylor1320 Год назад +11

    Well he got the bit about Putin right

    • @arianakluyverrodriguez5439
      @arianakluyverrodriguez5439 Год назад

      lmaooooooooooooooo

    • @mehfoos
      @mehfoos 8 месяцев назад +1

      Absolutely. It's easy to criticise from the sidelines but nobody wants to be the next Neville Chamberlain. There was no concrete evidence for WMD, but there wasn't concrete evidence for lack of WMDs either. Doesn't absolve those in power of responsibilities and accountability from a legal perspective, but it's entirely plausible (debatable on "probable") that they did it in good faith.

    • @ohmypaper
      @ohmypaper Месяц назад

      Given that he wasn't asked about Putin here 😂

    • @theotaylor1320
      @theotaylor1320 Месяц назад

      He explicitly mentions him. The importance of standing by your own red lines.

  • @R.Kinney1492
    @R.Kinney1492 11 месяцев назад

    Alastair Machiavelli. 💀

  • @ilikecake48
    @ilikecake48 10 лет назад +2

    It's as if you guys couldn't get the janitor to give a talk. Seriously who are you going to invite next? Kissinger?

  • @TheKurze1
    @TheKurze1 2 года назад +3

    His eyes tell he is a bloddy liar from the heart

    • @nightking8490
      @nightking8490 2 года назад

      Good riddance from some M()zlemZ so it was all worth it. Hahaha !

  • @g.p616
    @g.p616 11 месяцев назад

    If I were responsible, as Campbell is, for the deaths of a million Iraqis I couldn’t live with myself. I seriously believe I would have to end it all to find peace.

  • @ziggerzee
    @ziggerzee 2 года назад +5

    Liar

  • @MegaSteve1957
    @MegaSteve1957 2 года назад +1

    In making this appearance he obviously believes he can convince his audience, which means that he is delusional in regards to his own narrative while underestimating the intelligence of others.

  • @Wynapse
    @Wynapse 8 лет назад +5

    Iraq was invaded because Saddam Hussein stopped selling his oil in the dollar then decided to sell the in the euro. This had a devastating effect in for the U.S economy and the back pockets for elite zionist bankers that run the white house.
    9/11 was created by the U.S and mainly planned by the Israeli Mossad. The airliner used was not a commercial airliner it had response sensors all over the plane and was guided by into the building by the same technology we see in drones. Jet Fuel cannot bring down a steel corrugated tower in 45 minutes. 9/11 was also created do destabilise 7 muslim countries. Libya, Syria, Iraq, lebanon, egypt, Somalia and Yemen.
    The Israeli mossad own 95% of America's media dating back to 1935 when the zionist jews bought the Washington post, associated press and Reuters. Now 9/11 was their excuse. Its now ISIS.

  • @thefirstharry
    @thefirstharry Год назад +6

    100% agree with Alastair here. At the time, we didn’t know, and although it was a very tough decision, the bottom line was - you CANNOT risk the nutters who did 9/11 getting their hands on WMDs.

    • @reeceballantyne9497
      @reeceballantyne9497 Год назад +5

      We did know they didn’t have WMD though

    • @anncothromoir1018
      @anncothromoir1018 Год назад

      Of course they knew. It's worth reading up on the history. Prior to the war, the CIA and National Intelligence Council specifically stated that there was no evidence of WMDs in Iraq, and this claim was supported by army generals, the Energy Department, and so on. But Bush and Blair went ahead with BS story anyway. This is all spelled out in the Chilcot Report.

    • @keithbaldock128
      @keithbaldock128 Год назад +5

      Grow up. A million kids died because of people like 'Alastair'.

    • @cysage5876
      @cysage5876 Год назад +4

      who in iraq did 9/11?

    • @VonDutchyy
      @VonDutchyy Год назад

      @@cysage5876 I mean a countries regime invading Kuwait, Dujail Massacre and countless mustard gas attacks / executions on Iraqi people doesnt exactly give too much of 'this guy is not a threat' vibe does it

  • @shodanxx
    @shodanxx 10 лет назад

    Wow that was a real genuine answer, is this guy a retired politician ? Because I can' t really imagine an active politician would give an informative answer like that.
    And to reply to what he is saying, what makes you think that going into those foreign countries and killing everyone who resist would do anything BUT make them stronger ? Unless you are ready to eradicate the local population or at least to install a puppet totalitarian military regime then you are better off making credible threats and really hoping no one calls your bluff !
    I think a more realistic solution is to figure out why they are so willing to attack us and address that directly. They have goals and grievances and that means diplomacy can work but military power is doing a shit job against insurgents.
    I can understand the reluctance to negotiate with them, because it means their terrorist threats have weight at the negotiation table now and we don't want to suffer this expensive diplomatic loss but too bad, it isn't going away.
    If we are not willing to kill every last one of them then we better be ready to bring something they want to the table and make a deal that their population will like.

  • @jajabor2023
    @jajabor2023 Год назад +1

    Very intelligent liar

  • @adstanra
    @adstanra 10 лет назад +2

    excellent reply.

  • @rstrong1
    @rstrong1 10 лет назад +2

    Oh look, I see the giant rats have also found their way into Oxford Union.

  • @mossychops
    @mossychops Год назад

    OXFAM?

  • @rugjacksby
    @rugjacksby 10 лет назад +4

    the amount of conspiracy shit below is appalling...

    • @anncothromoir1018
      @anncothromoir1018 Год назад

      'cos you know the truth, right? The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Sure you do.

  • @hms493
    @hms493 Год назад

    So disappointing 🤦🏾‍♂️

  • @jimmyjohnson7027
    @jimmyjohnson7027 11 месяцев назад

    The invasion of Iraq was to satisfy Tony B Liar's ego. Helped by professional liar, Campbell. And I still have my desert boots.

  • @jajabor2023
    @jajabor2023 Год назад

    Liar