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.
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Scolding Blair, Salmond said that the former Prime Minister “is just the only person left in the country, who would go and invade Iraq under a false premise”. Directly or indirectly, newspaper headlines clearly showed no mercy.
Sir John Chilcot made a statement before the official release of the long awaited report.
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”.
But he insisted that he did what he thought was the “right thing” at the time and he still believed Iraq was “better off” without Saddam Hussein, the British broadcaster said.
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”.
Judgments about the danger of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction “were presented with a certainty that was not justified” by the underlying intelligence, Chilcot said.
Blair admitted there were “mistakes in planning and process” in Britain’s role in the invasion but said: “I would take the same decision [again]”.
He added that Mr Wilkie was “irrational” to claim – as he had earlier in the day – that the Iraq invasion and Australia’s involvement in it was ultimately responsible for the Lindt Cafe siege and the 2005 Bali bombing.
Mr Wilkie, who resigned from the Office of National Assessments in protest over the government’s decision to join the war, renewed his call for a third and broader Australian inquiry into the conflict.
“It’s clearer now than it’s ever been on account of the Chilcot Inquiry in the United Kingdom”, he said.
Blair paid tribute to British Armed Forces, saying: “I will express my profound regret at the loss of life and the grief it has caused the families, and I will set out the lessons I believe future leaders can learn from my experience”.
The answer – delivered by the inquiry’s chairman Sir John Chilcot – is no, it wasn’t.
When no such weapons turned up following the invasion, Chilcot said, Blair changed the case for war on the fly, refocusing them on Hussein’s intention of getting weapons of mass destruction.
And the report said that the aftermath of the war – which has produced deep, chronic instability in Iraq as well as the rise of the Islamic State – should have been foreseen.
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The former Liberal leader said he did not share the view that the current Middle East conflict was the direct effect of the 2003 war.
