Chilcot: Iraq War Inquiry Not to Shy Away from Criticisms
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Sir John Chilcot, chair of an inquiry in Britain into the circumstances surrounding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, has insisted he was not afraid to criticize those who were in charge at the time of the invasion in his report.
In an interview with broadcasters on the eve of publication, he moved to preempt accusations of a whitewash by saying there were occasions where he and his fellow panelists had judged that decisions or behavior would justify a rebuke, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.
Chilcot said, “I made very clear right at the start of the inquiry that if we came across decisions or behavior which deserved criticism then we wouldn’t shy away from making it. And, indeed, there have been more than a few instances where we are bound to do that.”
His report runs to 12 volumes totaling 2.6m words, and examines the UK’s role in the run-up to the invasion and its aftermath. The Iraq Body Count, which maintains a database of deaths in Iraq, puts the death toll of combatants and civilians from the invasion to the present day at 251,000.
The Chilcot report’s main focus is on what commitments the government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair gave to George Bush and whether he misled the British public over the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, which turned out to be non-existent.
Chilcot further defended himself against the length of time the inquiry had taken, seven years, saying its scale was unprecedented. It included an analysis of 150,000 government documents and getting agreement from the government on how much of that could be published.
Launched by the Bush administration and backed by the UK, the war led to the deaths of more than one million Iraqis.
The invasion plunged Iraq into chaos, resulting in years of deadly violence and the rise of Takfiri terrorist groups like Daesh (ISIL).
