The Poorhouse wanted to highlight a few little snippets of information regarding the consequences of the Iraq invasion as determined by agencies that we - and the Government - should ideally be able to trust at least a little to have the relevant expertise.

...there is "no doubt" the invasion of Iraq has "given a boost to the al-Qaida network" in "propaganda, recruitment and fundraising"

- summary of a report by Chatham House, which used to be known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, as reported in the Guardian.

Iraq may prove to be an even more effective training ground for Islamic extremists than Afghanistan was in Al Qaeda's early days, because it is serving as a real-world laboratory for urban combat.

- from a classified Central Intelligence Agency report, as reported in the New York Times.

…events in Iraq are continuing to act as motivation and a focus of a range of terrorist-related activity in the UK.

- private report to the Government by the Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre as reported by the Guardian.

The Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success [in Iraq] would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere…The Iraq conflict has become the 'cause celebre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world. If this trend continues, threats to US interests at home and abroad will become more diverse, leading to increasing attacks worldwide.

- from a National Intelligence Estimate compiled by 16 intelligence agencies, as reported in the Guardian.

But don't worry Mr and Mrs UK average citizen. Apparently all those expert intelligence-led reports are wrong. Our Great Leader and Saviour Tony Blair had the following corrections to make in a speech to the Labour Party conference last month:

This terrorism isn't our fault. We didn't cause it.
It's not the consequence of foreign policy.

OK, of course Blair didn't directly cause the acts of terrorism we consistently witness around the world, including in his very own UK. No matter what anyone does, the appropriate or acceptable response is not to go around blowing entirely innocent people up or causing other forms of violence. These people that do these things are murderous criminals. Nonetheless the Poorhouse thinks for Blair to declaim any potential causal factor in that manner, against the output of all the experts - that one would think if anything were more inclined to have bias towards the current rulers of the world - seems just a touch arrogant and hasty.

In other bad news a new study in the Lancet Journal puts the number of Iraqis killed as a result of the above-mentioned invasion as most likely 655,000. This is approximately one in every forty of the total Iraqi population. Over 600,000 of these deaths have been ascribed to violence, mostly gunshot wounds. 31% of the total deaths are the "coalition forces" doing.

These figures are of course disputed by the UK and US governments.