Tony Blair has taken responsibility for the Iraq War but refused to accept that Britain’s toppling of Saddam Hussein could have anything to do with spreading instability in the region.
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Sir John Chilcot concluded in his 2.6m-word report that opting for military action was not a last resort at the time, with the United Kingdom taking the decision before exhausting all peaceful options. “I believe I made the right decision and that the world is better and safer as a result of it”, Blair said.
Australia’s former prime minister joined other Western leaders Thursday in standing by their decisions to go to war in Iraq 13 years ago. Prime Minister David Cameron, who voted for war in 2003, told MPs it was important to “really learn the lessons for the future” and to improve the workings of government and how it treats legal advice.
The inquiry report stopped short of saying military action was illegal, a stance that is certain to disappoint Blair’s many critics.
The spokesman said all options were being considered, including asking those responsible for the failures identified in the report to “answer for their actions in the courts if such process is found to be viable”.
Unveiling the 2.6 million-word report, which took seven years to complete, Sir Chilcot said it was “an account of an intervention which went badly wrong, with consequences to this day”.
Admitting “with the benefit of hindsight, different decisions would have been made”, Mr Straw said: “In the end I came to the conclusion that military action was necessary”.
Bacon said Blair seemed like a “lost” person despite his “strident” tone during the press conference, “He doesn’t seem to know where he is at”.
The Chilcot report concluded that Britain’s decision to go to war was based on flawed and unchallenged intelligence.
Across the Tasman, the Australian government says it’s up to former prime minister John Howard to decide whether he wants to apologise for Australia’s involvement in the invasion. I thought of Saddam and his record, the character of his regime.
“I wouldn’t like to see NZ in Iraq for a very long period of time because I don’t think that would be appropriate but at this point in time it’s the right thing to do”, he said.
“I will at the same time say why, nonetheless, I believe that it was better to remove Saddam Hussein and why I do not believe this is the cause of the terrorism we see today whether in the Middle East or elsewhere in the world”, he added.
– Blair overestimated his ability to influence U.S. decision-making on Iraq and promised to support then-US president George W. Bush’s bid to remove Hussein in private letters, before the United Nations had completed its inspections for weapons.
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Yesterday Sir John Chilcot released his 6,000-page, 12-volume dossier which shamed the ex-premier for the deeply controversial 2003 invasion.
