The Chilcot report into Gulf debacle where millions died

[Anthea]

'Act now, explain later': What Blair told George Bush TWO YEARS before Iraq war is revealed in eviscerating Chilcot report into Gulf debacle

Chilcot report into 2003 Iraq War criticises Tony Blair over the way he took Britain into the war alongside the US
Inquiry found that invasion was based on 'flawed' intelligence and war was 'not the last resort' at the time
Blair was not prepared for the consequences of conflict despite 'explicit warnings' and bypassed peace for war
Secret email sent by Blair to George W Bush hours after 9/11 advised president to 'act now and justify later'
He also wrote-off million-man march before war as 'fatuous' and a defence of the 'most illiberal' regime on earth
Ex-PM today said he did not lie and 'it was better to remove Saddam Hussein' and acted in UK's 'best interests'
He said: 'There were no lies, Parliament and the Cabinet were not misled, there was no secret commitment to war'
Families of 179 war dead call him 'the world's worst terrorist' and promised to pursue him through the courts
Mr Blair will be very unlikely to face war crime trial in The Hague - but British soldiers could still be prosecuted

Tony Blair's reputation was today lacerated by the damning Iraq War report as it revealed he told George W Bush they should 'act now, explain later' in a secret memo sent two years before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The former prime minister was also accused of twisting intelligence about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein to justify the war that led to the deaths of 179 British soldiers and left hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead - but Mr Blair insisted this afternoon: 'There were no lies - there was no deceit'.

After seven years of deliberations, the Chilcot report found that the former prime minister overplayed evidence about the dictator's weaponry and ignored peaceful means to send troops into the country.

In a devastating set of conclusions, Sir John found Blair presented the case for war with 'a certainty which was not justified' based on 'flawed' intelligence about Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

It also said Blair had 'overestimated' his ability to influence US president George W Bush and the way the legal basis was established was branded 'far from satisfactory' and bypassed the UN and undermined the international system.

And Blair was not prepared for the consequences of Iraq War despite 'explicit warnings' as he doggedly pursued an invasion, Sir John's report said.

29 secret letters Mr Blair wrote to George W Bush were published for the first time today and in July 2002, eight months before MPs voted to back an invasion, Mr Blair had told the president: 'I will be with you, whatever'. On the day after 9/11 he told President Bush: 'Act now, explain later'.

But after Sir John published his report today Tony Blair gave a 45-minute speech where he said Sir John proved 'there were no lies, Parliament and the Cabinet were not misled, there was no secret commitment to war, intelligence was not falsified and the decision was made in good faith'.

And in a message to the families of the 179 servicemen and women who died in the Iraq War - who say Chilcot shows him to be 'the world's worst terrorist' and he should be prosecuted - Mr Blair told them: 'I express more sorrow, regret and apology than you may ever know or can believe.'

He added: 'I can look those families and the country in the eye and tell them I did not mislead them. What I cannot do, and will not do, is say that the decision was wrong. I think the world is a safer and better place because of it. I cannot accept that they (British soldiers) died in vain'.

Link to EXTREMELY interesting article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... nvade.html

[Benny]

Thanks for the link.

A delayed report, 7 years in the making - 2, 6 million words! An estimated cost of 9 millions.

/B

[Londoner]

UK have a double setback recently. First it was a blow from the Brexiteers and now a blow against Toney Blair for supporting liberation of Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein V-bomps dropping over London.

[Anthea]

UK have a double setback recently. First it was a blow from the Brexiteers and now a blow against Toney Blair for supporting liberation of Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein V-bomps dropping over London.

Actually no - it was money - it is always money

Saddam was in the process of uniting with several other countries to form an independent Oil Burse

Saddam was in talks with Canadian banks because that was the only country who would allow such trading to take place

Had the Independent Oil Burse been allowed to reach fruition US would have lost a large percentage of it's income

One of my interests used to be in economics

PETRODOLLARS

[Anthea]

British Kurds remain grateful for removal of Saddam despite war inquiry
Reporting by: Wladimir van Wilgenburg

A new debate has remerged in the UK last Wednesday over the decision of the British government and former Prime Minister Tony Blair to support the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003. However, Iraqi Kurds remain grateful for the toppling of Saddam who massacred thousands of Kurds, although they admit mistakes where made by the coalition after the fall of Saddam regime.

The UK’s Iraq War inquiry finished a report last Wednesday after seven years, headed by Sir John Chilcot. The report concluded that the UK government had inadequate plans for the aftermath of the fall of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Alastair Campbell, the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman, wrote on his blog: “Plenty of Iraqis, and not merely Kurds and Shias, also remain glad that Saddam Hussein is no more. We just don’t see or hear them too often on British TV stations.”

Although there is a lot of criticism in the UK over the war, with many in the left calling for putting Tony Blair on trial, many Iraqi Kurds are grateful for the decision of Blair and former US President George Bush to topple Saddam. The decision of Bush earned him the nickname in Kurdish ‘father of freedom’.

“It is a sign of the resilience and confidence of the British people that its government commissioned such a major investigation into its decision to join the invasion of Iraq in 2003,” the representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to the UK, Karwan Jamal Tahir, said in a public statement.

“It’s not for me to comment in detail on domestic decision-making but I can say that the Kurds are eternally grateful for the British helping to overthrow Saddam Hussein, who committed genocide against us,” he said.

“I also send the most sincere condolences of the Kurdish people to the relatives and loved ones of the British soldiers who died and to those who were injured,” he concluded.

Speaking to ARA News, Ari Murad, award winning Kurdish film maker and photographer based in the United Kingdom, said that he is grateful for the toppling of Saddam.

“The Kurds by and large supported the war in Iraq. My generation, that of the 80s, has suffered greatly at the hands of Saddam Hussein. I am a Feyli and Saddam killed more than 30,000 Feyli Kurds [Shia Kurds] and captured their assets. The entire state was functioned around his tribe and his family. Saddam Hussein was merciless to everyone, yes there are serious problems in Iraq now. Yet they are all of his very own making,” Murad told ARA News.

“There are protests now, people under Saddam either lived in total war or suffered mass starvations. Despite the rampant corruption people are free now to an express an opinion, despite the horrors people endured under Saddam there was never one protest. That in itself speaks volumes,” he added.

“Every Feyli family has their own personal horror story, I had an aunty I won’t say what type of aunty that was locked in her university graduation and gang raped by Uday [Saddam’s son] and his bodyguards,” he said.

“Nothing but a military intervention would of ended his tyrannical rule,” he concluded.

Shkar Sherzad Hafiz Sharif, a Kurd from the UK, told ARA News that Saddam’s regime has committed many crimes against the Kurds.

“Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein’s eldest son used to cruise around Baghdad and crash wedding parties. Kidnapping the bride and raping her and killing the groom if he dared say anything,” he said.

“The Ba’ath party would often throw people off high buildings on trumped up charges and they would blow people up by putting explosives in their pockets. They would execute dissidents by firing squad and then send the bill for the bullets to their family,” he added.

“They committed mass genocide on us Kurds killing approx. 180,000 of us. We all have relatives and friends who are no longer with us because of Saddam Hussein and his Ba’ath party. Yes, mistakes were made but we, as the victims of Saddam Hussein, know that he had to be removed,” he concluded.

Reporting by: Wladimir van Wilgenburg