Tony Blair blasted in hard hitting report on Iraq war
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair took his country into the war in Iraq in 2003 in a campaign that was badly planned, badly executed and legally questionable. Those are the findings of the inquiry published, by John Chilcot, a former UK under-secretary of State.
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Work on the report, - consisting of 2,7 million words - started in 2009 under then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Even still, in a reaction to the report, during a press conference, Blair indicated that he still stands with his decision to go to war.
The report consists of 12 massive volumes of meticulously researched material about the 2003 invasion in Iraq, focusing on the decisions that lead to military actions and the role of the UK at the side of the Washington-led coalition.
The war caused the death of over 150.000 Iraqis, 4,424 US troops and 179 British military.
“We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted,” said Chilcot in a statement preceding the official publication of the report.
“Military action at that time was not a last resort. We have also concluded that the judgments about the severity of the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction were presented with a certainty that was not justified.”
“Despite explicit warnings, the consequences of the invasion were underestimated. The planning and preparations for Iraq after Saddam Hussein were wholly inadequate.”
“The Government failed to achieve its stated objective.”
The hard-hitting report adds that the UK neglected UN Security Council decisions.
“Without evidence of major new Iraqi violations or reports from the inspectors that Iraq was failing to co-operate and they could not carry out their tasks, most members of the Security Council could not be convinced that peaceful options to disarm Iraq had been exhausted and that military action was therefore justified.
“[UK Prime Minister Tony] Blair and [then UK Foreign Secretary Jack] Straw blamed France for the “impasse” in the UN and claimed that the UK Government was acting on behalf of the international community “to uphold the authority of the Security Council”. In the absence of a majority in support of military action, we consider that the UK was, in fact, undermining the Security Council’s authority.
The Government failed to achieve its stated objective.
Chilcot report on Iraq war
Family members of British soldiers that died during the Iraq invasion had been waiting anxiously for the publication of the report that was delayed by years.
“Personally for myself, [I feel] anger,” says Sarah O’Connor, sister of deceased soldier Bob O’Connor. “I've gone back to that time when I learned that my brother had been killed. And there is one terrorist in this world that the world needs to be aware of and his name is Tony Blair,” she says, adding that even though the soldiers died, ”we will be their voices and our voices need to be heard, and we will be heard.”
Groups of family members are now looking what they can do, hoping to bring Tony Blair to justice.
“The families ... are pleased that the inquiry has discharged its duties without fear, favor or prejudice,” says Matthew Jury, a lawyer representing the families.
But, he says, that in the coming days and weeks the families will "undertake a full and forensic review of the report's content and conclusions. If state officials are determined to have acted unlawfully or in excess of their powers the families will then decide whether to take any necessary and appropriate action at a proper time.
“All options will be considered.”
One of the options is to try and bring Blair to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. But this may prove more difficult than it sounds. “I don't think that it is so likely to happen,” says Richard Dicker, international legal expert with Human Rights Watch.
“It would require drawing a link...showing that Tony Blair knew, or should have known what was taking place. That's not so easy to do with political leaders at the top of the chain of command.”
The ICC is currently holding a preliminary investigation into alleged war crimes committed by United Kingdom nationals in the context of the Iraq conflict and occupation from 2003 to 2008, but, says Dicker, even if this will turn into a case, it is highly unlikely that Blair will be implicated.
In a reaction to the publication of the report, the former British prime minister gave a press conference lasting several hours, and although he said he takes “complete responsibility” for mistakes made, he would still take the same decision.
“I knew it was not a popular decision,” he says. I knew it would cost me politically, though that shrinks into complete insignificance besides the human cost.”
“I did it because I thought it was right, and because I thought the human cost of inaction, of leaving [former Iraqi dictator] Saddam [Hussein] in power, would be greater for us and for the world in the longer term.”
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