Sir John Chilcot’s 6,000-page report on the Iraq war and occupation has delivered a crushing verdict on Tony Blair’s decision to join the USA invasion, finding a multitude of mistakes and bad strategy that led to years of devastating mismanagement and strife.
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Blair has expressed “sorrow” and “regret” for the mistakes made in the war, but he has resolutely stood by his decision to launch the invasion and the removal of Saddam Hussein.
The inquiry report, running to 2.6 million words or more than four times the length of War and Peace, shed light on the interaction between Blair and Bush in the months leading up to the invasion, which has always been the subject of speculation about secret deals and pledges.
Chilcot said former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was warned of the risks of regional instability and the rise of terrorism before the invasion of Iraq, but pressed on regardless.
“Actually if people are being fair and read the whole report, that allegation should be put to rest, because it’s not true and it never was true”.
Families of slain British soldiers said they were considering whether to take legal action against him.
The Chilcot report was excoriating in its assessment of the British government’s decision-making process over going to war, saying that the threat posed by dictator Saddam Hussein was overplayed, intelligence was flawed, and the legal basis for the war was unsatisfactory. I made the decision in good faith on the information I had at the time. “In my view, in my judgment, at the time and now, the world was and is better off without Saddam Hussein in power”.
While Labour frontbencher Diane Abbott said that Mr Blair’s reputation had “bled to death in the sands of Iraq”.
Reg Keys, whose son Thomas died when a mob attacked a police station in 2003, accused Blair of “manufacturing and massaging the intelligence reports” even though Chilcot laid the blame for faulty intelligence at the feet of spy chiefs.
In his 12-volume document, Chilcot placed the burden of responsibility on Blair and revealed the extent of his alliance with the then US President George W. Bush, to whom he promised an unconditional support for the invasion of Iraq in 2002.
“I know some of the families cannot and do not accept this is so”.
However the report showed that military action in Iraq was not the “last resort” and all methods of negotiation had not been exhausted before the decision to go to war was made. Mr Howard said at a news conference in Sydney.
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In a December 2001 memo, among more than 30 such notes released with the Chilcot report, Mr Blair said to Mr Bush that he would be “with you, whatever”, before setting out some of the conditions he believed the USA would need to meet to attract support, including seeking United Nations authorisation.
