The former British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned in 2003 by his counterpart Jan Peter Balkenende that an attack on Iraq could lead to civil war in that country. According to a memo by the Sunday TV program Focal Reporter is published.
Balkenende feared the consequences of depositing the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He called that "lifting the lid", according to a confidential memo. Therefore he called 'his initiative on March 2nd, 2003, two weeks before the war, with Blair. Balkenende felt that "should be very seriously considered any post-Saddam period. Under the "lifting the lid" would create a complicated situation, with rival religious groups and warlords. Also surrounding countries would like to exert their influence. "
The first Balkenende government granted political but not military support the US attack on Iraq. After the attack broke a protracted civil war between Sunni and Shiite militias and the Shiite army. Also neighboring Iran and Syria joined in the conflict. Today, large parts of Iraq in the hands of terrorist group Islamic State.
No reaction
The first Balkenende government would already have taken longer worried about the lack of US plans for the so-called Post-Saddam period. But the Netherlands had with the US government in Washington not respond, says former Ambassador Boudewijn van Eenennaam in Focal Reporter. The government then pulled the bell at allies of US President George W. Bush, as British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Balkenende did not know to want to comment on the memo, according to the TV program. The conversation with Blair is not mentioned in the report of the Davids Commission, who investigated the Dutch decision-making on the Iraq war. One of the lessons that the government withdrew from the study of the Davids Committee was that an adequate mandate under international law is required to participate in a mission with Dutch soldiers.
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