Sir John Chilcot, chair of an inquiry in Britain into the circumstances surrounding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, announced in his report published on Wednesday, July 6, that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein did not pose an urgent threat to British interests, that the United Kingdom and United States had undermined the authority of the United Nations Security Council, that the process of identifying the legal basis was “far from satisfactory”, and that a war in 2003 was unnecessary.
With his voice breaking at an emotional news conference that lasted almost two hours, Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his “sorrow, regret and apology” for the “failures” over Iraq, and took full responsibility for the decision, but insisted he stood by his actions – and would make the same decision again.
“A decision had to be taken and it was for me to take as prime minister. I took it, I accept full responsibility for it, I stand by it,” he said, his voice close to breaking, as reported by Telegraph.
“I only ask with humility that the British people accept that I took this decision because I believed that it was the right thing to do based on the information that I had and the threat I perceived and that my duty as prime minister at that moment in time was to do what I thought was right.”
Families of some of the military personnel killed in Iraq branded the former prime minister a “terrorist”, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Sir John’s long-awaited report made clear that Parliament was misled and the invasion was “an act of military aggression based on a false pretext”.
The pictures published by Entekhab news website shows what Blair and his decision did to the Iraqi nation and territory.
