I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread about this yet. So it is here now.

 

The Chilcot Report, the report into the UK's decision to go to war in Iraq, and its aftermath, was published in full yesterday. It an be read in full here.

 

What are your thoughts?

You have a link to a quick summary of the main points?

Here's a link to BBC's Findings At A Glance.

Well it was not the whitewash that I was expecting (given Blair's rather cavalier attitude over the past few months in the media), but it did pretty much confirm everything I had thought.

 

We rushed in to a war predicated on flimsy intelligence, with an insufficiently resourced army, without any kind of strategy, more especially post-Saddam despite many warnings of sparking further conflict. We did this all because Blair thought it was 'doing the right thing' and he wanted to show support for and stand by the Americans, by removing an evil tyrant who lets not forget gassed the Kurds in 1988 they would be celebrated and thanked.

 

Blair remained pretty adamant that he would do the same now knowing what we now know (i.e. the consequences of the invasion) which just solidifies his arrogance IMO.

Indeed. Conveniently forgetting he supported a us president who condoned torture, caused the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people by his actions, and subsequently cast the region into chaos as the fair democracy never actually emerged. All totally worth it because it would have been even worse if they had done as the rest of the world wanted and stayed the eff out. The arrogance and self-delusion is breath-taking.

A lot of the criticism seems to be levelled at his style of government and the part that played in the decision to go into Iraq. The press like to tell us that we like strong and decisive Prime Ministers. They somehow forget that strong and decisive PMs have given us disasters such as Iraq and the Poll Tax.

My thoughts are that it only confirms what I suspected and consequently Tony Blair should pay for his crimes and have charges brought before the ICC.

A lot of the criticism seems to be levelled at his style of government and the part that played in the decision to go into Iraq. The press like to tell us that we like strong and decisive Prime Ministers. They somehow forget that strong and decisive PMs have given us disasters such as Iraq and the Poll Tax.

 

Not to mention the very strong decision to firmly let banks grow as big as they like, to do what they like, and to be answerable to nobody of consequence even when it becomes blatantly obvious they haven't a clue what they are doing (at the overpaid top). Dimwits manipulated by crooks and cheered on by very strong leaders such as Thatcher and Blair.

 

I've possibly mentioned that one before... :P

My thoughts are that it only confirms what I suspected and consequently Tony Blair should pay for his crimes and have charges brought before the ICC.

I doubt the cricketers would do much about it.

My thoughts are that it only confirms what I suspected and consequently Tony Blair should pay for his crimes and have charges brought before the ICC.

 

 

No he shouldn't at all and he won't do. He was PM and had to make a difficult decision. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I feel sorry for him actually. Remember that Parliament voted for the war too and the Cabinet. It wasn't just him and it's a disgrace that he's getting vilified so much.

My thoughts are that it only confirms what I suspected and consequently Tony Blair should pay for his crimes and have charges brought before the ICC.

One of the main takeaways of the report was that there wasn't anything committed that you could describe as a war crime. The report is damning enough on so many levels without people feeling the need to devalue what the term 'war crime' means by making up what constitutes one.

 

He should, however, face trial for gross negligence.