Gorbachev Says Invasion Of Iraq A 'Big Mistake'

LONDON, Sept 23 (AFP) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, on a visit to Britain, on Thursday criticised the US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled former dictator Saddam Hussein.
Gorbachev, 73, who led the Soviet Union from March 1985 until December 1991 when the 15-republic Communist superpower was dissolved, called the invasion "a big mistake" and that it was "undermining democracy."
He was speaking at the launch of a campaign called ComeClean, which is aimed at making people more aware of the dangers of weapons of mass destruction.
The former Soviet leader was credited with helping bring the nuclear arms race to an end, thereby reducing the threat of a nuclear war.
Gorbachev appealed to all those countries holding stocks of nuclear weapons to destroy them to avoid the risk that extremists might acquire them.
"Should they (extremists) gain access to weapons of mass destruction, the threat would become catastrophic," he said.