Report: "Iraq War 'Unnecessary'"

[finehoe]

After seven years of investigation, the British government has released its exhaustive investigation into the Iraq war.

The Iraq Inquiry, also known as the Chilcot report, is massive, at a staggering 2.6 million words in length. The executive summary alone is 150 pages long. It is accompanied by a full 12 volumes of evidence, findings and conclusions.

The report meticulously chronologizes what happened before, during and after the invasion and occupation. It has been referred to as the British government's "last word" on the war.

"We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort," Chilcot made clear in his public statement on Wednesday, July 6.

The report notes that the British government's decision to use force "became even more controversial when it was subsequently found that Iraq's programmes to develop and produce  chemical, biological and nuclear weapons had been dismantled."

To justify the war, Bush and Blair claimed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had developed what they called "weapons of mass destruction."

Chilcot emphasized that the British government's judgments about Iraq's weapons capabilities "were presented with a certainty that was not justified."

"It quickly became apparent that it was unlikely that significant stockpiles would be found," the report notes, referring to the weapons of mass destruction accusation. "This led to challenges to the credibility of both the Government and the intelligence community."

Chilcot stressed that it "is now clear that policy on Iraq was made on the basis of flawed intelligence and assessments."

"They were not challenged, and they should have been," he added. He did not mention the millions upon millions of people in the U.K., the U.S. and other countries throughout the world who did challenge the U.S.-led invasion.

The report highlights that "there was no evidence of links between Iraq and Al Qaida," although the U.S. and U.K. implied this to sell the war effort.

In March 2003, when the invasion began, "There was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein," Chilcot stated.

He said a strategy of containment could have been continued, pointing out that the majority of the Security Council supported continuing U.N. inspections and monitoring, not a military invasion.

http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/