Lindsey German assesses what we should expect from the Chilcot Report
Lindsey German
Overwhelmingly in my view that those responsible for the war will be held accountable for taking us into it. They will expect the inquiry to find that those responsible lied in the course of this process, they will want condemnation of the politicians on both sides of the Atlantic who deceived, bullied, cajoled and lied to take us to war. They will want the responsibility for war to lie with Tony Blair and George Bush, as the main political leaders involved.
Above all, perhaps, they want someone to take the blame and responsibility for over 1m Iraqi dead, the millions of refugees, the US, British and allied soldiers killed, the consequences of the war including the rise of sectarianism and the rise of ISIS in British occupied Iraq.
Are they going to get all or most of that? No. There will be criticism of Blair, but it will be among criticism of many others. Will there be any legal outcome? Not from Chilcot, which was expressly set up not to allow any legal outcome.
Among the millions of words, it will be impossible for most people to read the report and digest its contents. Instead interpretation will depend on spin from the protagonists, politicians and media, most of whom have always argued for the war.
So what should we demanding answers to? Was the war legal? Has it made the world a safer place? Did Blair lie and did he make a secret deal with Bush to go to war?
And a few more; why has it taken 13 years for a full inquiry to report? Why have none of the lessons of Iraq been learnt? And why are British government intervening in new wars before we even get this report?
Source: Stop the War Coalition
