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The 6-year-in-the-making Chilcot Report into the Iraq War has been published
The inquiry commissioned by the British government into the Iraq War, covering the decision by the UK government to support the US, the preparation for the war, how the war was conducted, and how the aftermath was handled up until 2007, has been published.
The report contains 2.6 million words and is organized into 12 volumes.
In his speech at the publication ceremony, Sir John Chilcot stated that "We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort."
Opponents of the war hope that this report will allow legal action to be taken against Tony Blair, however legal experts have expressed that this will not happen.
Jeremy Corbyn, the current leader of the UK Labour Party, is expected to apologise on behalf of his party's involvement (although he personally voted against the war), while Alex Samond, former leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, may propose that Blair be impeached, which amounts to a gesture that would prevent Blair from ever taking office again.
Chilcot Report: Tony Blair Rushed Britain Into the Iraq War
The results of an inquiry about the British rush to enter the Iraq War have been released:
NPR's Lauren Frayer says that the 6,000 page report that came out of the John Chilcot led investigation, found that the Britain rushed to war before all peaceful means were exhausted. She filed this report for our Newscast unit:
Protesters yelled 'Tony Blair war criminal!' outside Britain's parliament. An investigation has concluded there was 'no imminent threat' by Saddam Hussein when Prime Minister Blair decided to invade, alongside the U.S.
It also reveals secret communications nine months before the war in which Blair told President George W. Bush, 'I will be with you whatever.' "Blair decided to invade before all the evidence was in, the report says. Families of the 179 British troops who died in Iraq are weighing lawsuits. "Blair issued a statement in his defense, saying he made the decision to go to war 'in good faith.'
Mr. Blair knew by January 2003 that Washington had decided to go to war to overthrow Mr. Hussein and accepted the American timetable for the military action by mid-March, pushing only for a second Security Council resolution that never came, 'undermining the Security Council's authority,' the report concludes.
The report is likely to underline in Britain the sense that Mr. Blair was 'Washington's poodle,' the phrase widely used by Mr. Blair's critics at the time. The report says the lessons from the British government's conduct are that 'all aspects' of military intervention 'need to be calculated, debated and challenged with the utmost rigor,' and decisions, once made, 'need to be implemented fully.'
The BBC quotes Kadhim al-Jabbouri, a man who became a symbol of Iraqi anger after swinging a sledgehammer at a bronze statue of Saddam Hussein, as saying "Saddam has gone, and we have one thousand Saddams now. It wasn't like this under Saddam. There was a system. There were ways. We didn't like him, but he was better than those people. Saddam never executed people without a reason. He was as solid as a wall. There was no corruption or looting, it was safe. You could be safe."
Also at Marketplace.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 07 2016, @02:58AM
Saddam was a very bad guy, but Bin Laden and Al Qaeda were much worse. Bin Laden had just pulled off 9/11. It was obvious, even to a layperson and before the war, that Saddam and Al Qaeda were sworn enemies.
Cheney saw Iraq and its oil reserves as a bank account for himself, his company (Halliburton), and his country (USA). If I had to guess I'd say it was his idea.
Bush, who dodged the draft in his youth and never accomplished much as an adult that didn't involve his father's connections, wanted to prove himself as "the Wartime President" (his words).
Fox News, led by clowns like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and the late Tony Snow, were relentless cheerleaders for the Iraq War and for evidence of Saddam's WMD. Their message was that America absolutely had to do this, and anyone who didn't think so was either a coward or a collaborator with the enemy. Day after day, night after night, month after month. Did they ever apologize? Are you kidding?
Practically all the Republicans in Washington were fully on board.
Hillary Clinton saw the chance to buff up her credentials as being tough on defense and America's enemies, and she took it.
Joe Biden was... I don't know what happened to Joe. It wasn't a good moment for him. He's great at some things, mediocre or worse at other things.
Donald Trump told Howard Stern was for it, but later decided that nobody had recorded that interview so he bragged during a GOP debate that he was the only one up on state with the foresight to oppose it. A very typical Donald Trump moment, that completely describes everything he's about. A lying, no-class shithead.
I have no idea what Tony Blair saw or was thinking.
Barack Obama saw what most of us living in America's big cities saw, that it was a train wreck in the making and had to be stopped. I personally remember people who didn't know each other spontaneously discussing the upcoming war, and there was something approaching panic at Bush's arrogance and stupidity. Saddam had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, in fact he was one of their significant enemies. To his credit, Obama didn't hedge his bets by being lukewarm instead of gung ho; instead he warned that the entire undertaking would be a disaster. The primary voters remembered that five years later.