Britain’s involvement in the USA -led invasion of Iraq was a failure, carried out before peaceful options had been exhausted and based on intelligence that was overstated, an official inquiry concluded.
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As protesters outside bayed for Tony Blair’s prosecution, inside the building where John Chilcot delivered his damming Iraq War Inquiry report the father of a dead serviceman delivered his own verdict: “My son died in vain”.
Speaking before the publication of the report, the chairman of the inquiry John Chilcot said Britain went to war before all peaceful options had been exhausted.
The report stated that military action at the time “was not a last resort” and the then Iraq leader Saddam Hussein posed no imminent threat to worldwide security.
Yesterday, the report revealed Mr Blair had written to former US President George Bush eight months before the joint invasion, telling him: “I will be with you whatever”.
It also said the intelligence services had used flawed information on which to base the main case for war – the alleged existence of weapons of mass destruction.
A former soldier who served in the war said he regrets being part of the invasion.
Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations at the time of the invasion has said the UK was “pushed” into entering military action too early by the US.
Blair also said the Iraq inquiry – set up by his successor Gordon Brown back in 2009 – shot down long-standing claims that he had lied about the war to the British public and cynically manipulated intelligence.
“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.
Blair had argued the report should exonerate him from accusations of lying. “I really don’t”, he said.
Mr Howard said despite the report’s criticisms of Mr Blair’s decisions, he agreed with the British prime minister’s decisions at the time.
Asked if he had considered whether that could happen, Mr Blair said: “No, but I do understand why they can’t agree with me and will never forgive me for this decision”.
“Our focus is on the challenges we have in Iraq and Syria right now”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament after the report was released that lessons must be learnt from the UK’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 to ensure that war is always the last resort.
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – who voted against military action – said the report proved the Iraq War had been an “act of military aggression launched on a false pretext”, something he said which has “long been regarded as illegal by the overwhelming weight of worldwide opinion”.
