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Chilcot Inquiry huge condemnation of Blair: Analyst

Thursday, 07 July 2016 6:07 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 07 July 2016 6:07 AM ]

Members of the media inspect the volumes that comprise Iraq Inquiry report, during its presentation by Report Chairman Sir John Chilcot, at the QEII Centre in London, July 6, 2016. (AFP photo)

Press TV has conducted an interview with David Swanson, a peace activist, author and political analyst in Virginia, and Jonathan Fryer, an author and broadcaster in London, to discuss the newly-released inquiry into Britain’s role in the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

Swanson says the Chilcot Inquiry is being rightly seen as a “huge condemnation” of former British prime minister Tony Blair and his cabinet.

“It makes crystal clear that the Joint Intelligence Committee had advised Blair that this would be counterproductive, that this would increase terrorism, endanger the United Kingdom and the United States, not protect them, that if there were really any weapons, the way to get them to be used or passed along the terrorists would be precisely to attack Iraq,” he states.

He also mentions launching a war and being a significant accomplice to a war is a “supreme crime” and this report should set a precedent for beginning to hold people accountable.

The analyst goes on to say that former US president George W. Bush and Blair are the “chief culprits” in initiating the disaster in Iraq.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Swanson says the UK is really a “key player” in the worst crime of the past 40 years because if it had opposed the war along with the rest of the world, there would have been a possibility to stop it.

He argues what should come out of this report is “no more wars,” adding that this supreme crime should be described at a tribunal for the criminals behind it.

Fryer, for his part, believes the Chilcot Inquiry clearly condemns the fact that no “proper preparations” were put in place for what would happen after the invasion of Iraq, let alone any justification for it which is “really damning.”

He also thinks there are some “real indictments,” adding that international lawyers need determine whether there is indeed a case that can be brought against Blair.

The analyst further notes that Blair seemed eager to follow Bush because he wanted to keep Britain as the United States’ “strongest ally” which infuriated many people at that time.

He also says most liberal-minded people in Britain recognize that it is actually through “negotiation” and “constructive engagement” that problems can be solved not by having more wars.

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