Deluded Blair refuses to admit disaster of Iraq war

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair remained adamant that the world was a better place for the removal of Iraq leader Saddam Hussein in the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

He 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”.

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.

“In the face of the Chilcot Report, John Howard should atone for his actions and those of his government”. His 12-volume, 2.6-million-word report on the war on Iraq 13 years ago comes seven years after the inquiry was ordered by then prime minister Gordon Brown.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was the most unpopular war in British history. “Regular reassessment is essential”. “They were not challenged and they should have been”, said Chilcot.

No weapons of mass destruction were ever found, undermining the basis for the conflict which left thousands of Iraqis and foreign soldiers dead.

Ian Hislop has made an important point about the continuing violence and suffering in Iraq amid debate over the Chilcot report.

And he denied that he was a pliant ally of President George W. Bush, defending a controversial message he sent the American president in 2002, before the decision to invade, which included the phrase “I will be with you, whatever.” .

In March 2003, then Prime Minister Tony Blair made a passionate plea, urging British Parliament to act without the United Nations’ approval.

Mr Twigg said the Sir John Chilcot’s inquiry did not find the first two claims to be the case and that deciding the legality of invasion was not part of its remit but that the Attorney General of the time Lord Goldsmith had indicated it was legal.

Although he agreed with Mr Campbell about “leadership”, he said that heads of state also “needed to be held accountable for their actions”.

– Chilcot concludes that Blair deliberately exaggerated the danger posed by Saddam Hussein.

The shocking findings of the report have potentially damaged Mr Blair’s reputation with the former Prime Minister possibly facing legal action from those who lost loved ones during the war.

“For all this, I express more sorrow, regret and apology than you may ever know or can believe”.

He noted that Blair was warned that military action in Iraq would increase the threat of al Qaeda to Britain, but war risks were not “properly identified”.

Instead, Mr Blair said, Iraq had a government “accepted as legitimate, the product of an election”.