“‘You lied about the intelligence’ – that’s what people say the whole time”, Blair said.
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Labour leader Andrew Little said the decision of the government at the time had now been vindicated.
√ The UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before “peaceful options for disarmament were exhausted” and “military action at that time was not a last resort”.
“And George Bush for a while agreed with him”.
He made a deal with George Bush before.
Bacon said the former premier’s statement was a “huge justification” for his decisions as he clearly ignored what had happened in Iraq and what was happening there now.
The former prime minister was found to have sent in forces in 2003 when there was no “imminent threat” from Saddam Hussein and on the basis of “flawed” intelligence about the Iraqi dictator’s weapons of mass destruction programme.
√ Problems after the invasion, including internal fighting, Iranian influences, regional instability and al Qaeda activity, were flagged as risks before the invasion.
Milngavie and Bearsden MSP’s have responded to the long awaited findings of the the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War.
He added: “It wasn’t that I wanted to believe it”.
“It was discovered very much to have been the strategy of the Saddam Hussein regime, once the threat of sanctions had disappeared – which was their long-term goal – was to reconstitute their WMD program”.
As an opposition National Party MP in 2003, John Key – now Prime Minister – was critical of the government for not joining New Zealand’s traditional allies. But, he added: “I took this decision because I believed that it was the right thing to do”.
And he argues that if Hussein had been left in power he would “have gone back to his [WMD] programmes again”.
“What I’ve tried to do today is explain why I acted as I did”.
He said that Blair “destroyed our country” and should be prosecuted as a war criminal.
Humphrys suggested some people thought Mr Blair was deluded.
Following the publication of Sir John’s report, Mr Blair held a two-hour press conference in which he apologised to the families of those killed in the Iraq War, accepting that they will never “forget or forgive him”.
“For all this, I express more sorrow, regret and apology than you may ever know or can believe”.
“I am not going to be harsh about Tony Blair, he has destroyed his own reputation”.
Relatives of soldiers killed in the conflict said they hadn’t ruled out legal action.
“The report… will not change anything-all this is empty talk”, said Zainab Hassan, aged 60.
“There’s not a single day goes by”, he said, when he does not think about his decision to approve military action, admitting that many mistakes had been made before, during and after the 2003 invasion.
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While military action in Iraq “might have been necessary at some point”, the report notes that in March 2003, when the U.S. -U.K. -led coalition entered Iraq, “there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein”.
