Daily View: Iraq inquiry one week in
At the beginning of the second week of the Chilcot inquiry into the reason behind the Iraq war, commentators continue to make their judgements and anticipate Tony Blair's contribution.
that the conclusion of the inquiry won't come until after the next election and wonders what the Tories will do if Tony Blair is judged to have misled the public on the presence of weapons of mass destruction:
"If they are in power and the Chilcot Inquiry reports that Blair and Co did mislead the British people, there isn't much they can say or do without exposing their own shortcomings... Cherie says he's writing a book. It's fair to assume the title won't be: Iraq: Why I Was Wrong."
that she is starting to feel sorry for Tony Blair as last week saw his colleagues going against him:
"I have to go lie down. I am feeling a tremor of sympathy for Anthony Charles Lynton Blair. Hearing so many turncoats who once cuddled up to him must fill him with righteous rage.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, then our man at the UN now says his knowledge and conscience made him feel uncomfortable that the war, though legal had no legitimacy. He thought of resigning. Well, Sir WHY DIDN'T YOU?"
that the emergence of a letter from then Attorney General Lord Goldsmith saying the war would be illegal under international law changes everything:
"First find the heart, Tony. Your Attorney General told you, in writing, the year before you invaded, that it would be an entirely illegal enterprise. International law is there for a reason: To prevent the waging of bad wars. And the Iraq war has turned out to be catastrophically and wickedly wrong. Ultimately that is not only about illegality. It is about immorality."
The the letter is enough evidence to hold Tony Blair to account:
"No more whitewashes, no more obfuscation. Mr Blair perpetrated upon the British people one of the most disgraceful betrayals in history. His day of reckoning is long overdue."
In his blog, the real scandal is that the UK government knew for several months that it was going to war with Iraq:
"Given this, why did it focus its entire efforts on making the case for war rather than preparing our troops for a war it knew was coming?"
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