Chilcot report: ‘It was not last resort’ Bush and Blair rushed into ‘unnecessary’ Iraq war
TONY Blair took Britain to war in Iraq “before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted”, Sir John Chilcot has said as the long-awaited report into the 2003 invasion is published.
By TOM BATCHELOR
Express.co.uk
Wed, Jul 6, 2016
Sir John said “military action at that time was not a last resort” and that the consequences of the 2003 invasion of Iraq were underestimated “despite explicit warnings”.
In a withering assessment of Mr Blair’s role in the invasion, Sir John said the ex-Labour leader “overestimated his ability to influence US decisions on Iraq”.
The Iraq Inquiry found that Mr Blair’s government presented evidence about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) “with a certainty that was not justified” and troops were sent in before all peaceful options had been exhausted.
Mr Blair also urged his US counterpart at the time President George W Bush to “act now and explain and justify later”.
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