While we’re all glued to the KSM-NYC drama, across the pond, they’re watching another terror spectacle: the Chilcot Inquiry, an investigative panel that’s rehashing Iraq like a bad BBC rerun. Tony Blair spoke to the group today. Here is part of what he had to say (h/t the New York Times):

– “This isn’t about a lie or a conspiracy or a deceit or a deception. It’s a decision. And the decision I had to take was, given Saddam’s history, given his use of chemical weapons, given the over one million people whose deaths he had caused, given 10 years of breaking U.N. resolutions, could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his weapons program or is that a risk it is responsible to take?”
– “The decision I took — and frankly would take again — was: if there was any possibility that he could develop weapons of mass destruction, we would stop him. It was my view then and that is my view now.”
– “We thought he was a risk, but it was worth trying to contain it. The crucial thing after Sept. 11 is that the calculus of risk changed.”
– “The point about this terrorist act was that over 3,000 people had been killed on the streets of New York, and this is what changed my perception of risk: if these people inspired by this religious fanaticism could have killed 30,000, they would have.”

Reaction in Britain has been mixed. “Well, if there is to be a Frost/Nixon moment, it hasn’t come yet,” says Jonathan Freedland at The Guardian. “He stuck to his guns so firmly that he was now pointing them to Iran. His conviction runs deep; even if it did not at the time, it certainly does now seven years on. This was a man skilled in the art of arguing,” adds Leila Nathoo at Politics.co.uk. Decide for yourself: The FT has a useful live blog going at the moment, here.