Corbyn: Blair should be tried for Iraq war

Labour Party leadership front-runner says former British prime minister Tony Blair should stand trial for involving Britain in the “illegal” US-led invasion of Iraq.

“It was an illegal war. I am confident about that. Indeed Kofi Annan [UN secretary general at the time of the war] confirmed it was an illegal war and therefore [Tony Blair] has to explain to that. Is he going to be tried for it? I don’t know. Could he be tried for it? Possibly,” Jeremy Corbyn was quoted as saying by the British media on Wednesday.

Corbyn has also urged Blair to “confess” the understandings he reached with ex-US president George W Bush in the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Meanwhile, Barry Grossman, an international lawyer, hailed “Corbyn’s enthusiastic condemnation of Blair” but reiterated that he couldn’t have been allowed to make such comments ahead of general elections.

“Personally, I am thrilled with Jeremy Corbyn’s enthusiastic condemnation of Blair and with his other public statements which are critical of Israel. But while his position might win him support from the Labour Party’s grass roots, he is not yet  facing a general election and  there can be no doubt that these same  statements will be carefully fashioned into an albatross around his neck by the Labour Party establishment,  the pro-Israel lobby, and the corporate media,” Grossman told Press TV’s UK Desk on Wednesday.

“While calling for Mr. Blair to be prosecuted makes for good copy in the press, the reality is that there is little more chance that Blair will stand trial for his crimes than there is of George Bush or his cohorts ever standing trial for their crimes. Certainly without a radical change in the establishment’s almost complete disregard for the rule-of-law, I would say the chances of any such prosecutions  are slightly less than zero,” he noted.

Unpopular War

The US-led invasion of Iraq began in 2003 and lasted for over 8 years. The war, which was initiated under the false pretence of weapons of mass destruction, took the lives of 179 UK personnel and nearly 4,500 US soldiers. The number of Iraqi civilian deaths has been estimated to be over 1 million by some sources.

‘Blair should confess’

Corbyn also pointed to the long-waiting Chilcot report and said it will ultimately force Blair to explain his discussions with Bush in the run-up to the war.

“The Chilcot report is going to come out sometime. I hope it comes out soon. I think there are some decisions Tony Blair has got to confess or tell us what actually happened. What happened in Crawford, Texas, in 2002 in his private meetings with George [W] Bush. Why has the Chilcot report still not come out because – apparently there is still debate about the release of information on one side or the other of the Atlantic. At that point Tony Blair and the others that have made the decisions are then going to have to deal with the consequences of it,” he added.

Timetable for Chilcot report

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron called for the prompt publication of Chilcot inquiry report.

Cameron has said the timetable for the publication of the long-awaited report should be published “pretty soon” for the sake of “families who want answers.”

The British government has already been under increasing fire for the continued delays to the report.

Earlier this year, John Chilcot told the British MPs that he has underestimated the time required to review up to 150,000 documents.

Chilcot rejected calls to set a timetable for the publication of the report as it may "arouse false hopes".

Long-awaited report

The probe is reviewing the participation of UK troops in the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq which saw British troops remain in the country for six years.

The inquiry was ordered by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown back in 2009. It was expected to publish its findings within 18 months.

Some critics argued that the report was held back amid concerns over its political repercussions in the run-up to May 7 parliamentary elections.

There are rising speculations that the Chilcot report will be eventually whitewashed to hide the facts about Britain’s decision to go to war under Blair in 2003. 

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