CHILCOT: 'UK JOINED THE IRAQ WAR BEFORE PEACEFUL OPTIONS WERE EXHAUSTED' AND ON 'FLAWED INTELLIGENCE'
He said this in a press conference, ahead of the Iraq Inquiry report release at 11.30 a.m. BST.
Chilcot said that his duty as chair of the Iraq Inquiry was to answer the following questions:
1. Whether it was right and necessary to invade Iraq.
2. Whether the UK was best prepared for the invasion.
He made the following key points, after remembering those killed in the Iraq War and for those who are "continuing to suffer" in Iraq:
- Britain went to war before peaceful options had been exhausted and therefore the Iraq War was "not the last resort."
- The intelligence that was intended to be used to justify going to war" was presented "with a certainty that was not justified".
- Planning for the invasion of Iraq was "wholly inadequate."
Ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and former US President George W. Bush "was in fact undermining the security council's authority" despite blaming France for obstructing action.
- Decision to go to Iraq War was based on "flawed intelligence." Blair presented the intelligence about Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction" "with a certainty that was not justified."
- Iraq policy should have been discussed with Britain's cabinet a number of times, but it was not.
- The Iraq Inquiry "does not accept" Blair's claim that it was "impossible" to predict the problems the country would face post-invasion.
- Britain failed to fully prepare for the invasion, as well as in its reconstructive efforts of the country.
- The Ministry of Defence was slow to respond to explosive devices used during the war.
- Resources for Iraq War were inadequate.
- Britain's effort in post-conflict Iraq "never matched the scale of the challenge."
The Iraq Inquiry background and what happens next
The Iraq Inquiry, dubbed the Chilcot Inquiry, is one of the most highly-anticipated political reports in Britain's history.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was in office from 1997-2007, took Britain to war in Iraq in 2003.
The 2.6 million word document is the culmination of a huge investigation that was launched by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009 into the UK's involvement in the war in Iraq.
The report, which is estimated to have cost over £10 million ($12.9 million) of taxpayers' money, has been chaired by former senior civil servant Sir John Chilcot and has taken 7 years to complete.
At the launch in 2009, Chilcot explained:
"This is an Inquiry by a committee of Privy Counsellors. It will consider the period from the summer of 2001 to the end of July 2009, embracing the run-up to the conflict in Iraq, the military action and its aftermath. We will therefore be considering the UK's involvement in Iraq, including the way decisions were made and actions taken, to establish, as accurately as possible, what happened and to identify the lessons that can be learned. Those lessons will help ensure that, if we face similar situations in future, the government of the day is best equipped to respond to those situations in the most effective manner in the best interests of the country."
179 British troops died during the 2003 invasion in Iraq and since then, 251,000 combatants and civilians in total have been killed in the country, according to the database The Iraq Body Count.
Politicians, family members of those killed in the Iraq war, and some journalists received reports at 8 a.m. BST - 3.5 hours in advance of the general public release.
Business Insider's live coverage is here while separate stories from the report will be published from 11.30 a.m. BST onwards.
Previously, there were a number of reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) definitely would not be prosecuting Blair following the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry.
However, a prosecutor at ICC dismissed reports that the court had totally ruled out prosecuting Blair for war crimes, according to The Times. Fatou Bensouda confirmed that she could investigate "anyone" for war crimes. But, importantly, this action could only be taken against Blair if the following criteria are met:
- It could be proved that Blair knew and approved of offences on the ground in Iraq
- If Britain refuses to investigate the former prime minister
During Wednesday, protesters gathered outside Blair's London home, calling for him to be brought to trial:
