US army chief’s withering verdict on Chilcot report says Iraq invasion could have been completed without the UK
Colonel Peter Mansoor also said it might have given the Bush administration 'some pause'
ONE US army chief's withering verdict on the Chilcot report is that the Iraq invasion could have been completed without the UK's involvement.
Colonel Peter Mansoor, speaking after Sir John's inquiry was finally published yesterday, said it might have actually given America 'some pause' had they not taken part.
The executive officer to US commander General David Petreaus, spoke to Good Morning Britain today.
And he was adamant Tony Blair didn’t need to involve British servicemen and women to help remove Saddam Hussein back in 2003.
"More importantly it might have given the Bush administration some pause," said the Colonel.
It comes after the US State Department said it would not be formally responding to Sir John’s findings, as its focus is on tackling the issues present in the Middle East today.
"We are not interested in re-litigating the decisions that lead to the Iraq war in 2003 ... we are not going to go through it [the report], we are not going to examine it, we are not going to try to make an analysis of it or make judgement of the findings one way or another," a spokesman said.
“Our focus is on the challenges we have in Iraq and Syria right now".
He added: “I believe that UK officials are taking it seriously and I am going to let them speak to it ... but that's where our focus is right now, not on doing the forensics on decisions that were made 13 years ago."
Mr Blair is now facing growing calls to be brought to court over his role in taking Britain to war following the damning verdict of 2.6 million-word report.
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The former prime minister has been put on notice by families of dead servicemen that he may face legal action over what flowed from his decision to tell US president George Bush "I will be with you whatever" eight months before the 2003 invasion.
Meanwhile shadow Commons leader Paul Flynn said the Iraq Inquiry's findings amounted to an "utter condemnation" of Mr Blair's "terrible" decision to commit British troops to the US-led invasion and prosecution of the former statesman should be given "serious consideration".
Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said he would like to see Mr Blair investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a crime of aggression and face parliamentary action to stop him holding public office again.
A former British ambassador to the UN has said the UK was "pushed" into entering military action too early by the US.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock told the BBC that Mr Blair had wanted a UN resolution backing military intervention in Iraq, but senior US officials thought it was a "waste of time".
"I felt that at the time, the British felt it at the time, I think the prime minister felt it at the time, that the Americans pushed us into going into military action too early," he said.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will face questioning on the implications of the report's devastating findings for Britain's future role in the world when he appears before a Commons committee on Thursday.
A defiant Mr Blair refused to accept accusations from service families that he had been wrong and reckless as he insisted he would make the decision to go to war again if presented with the same information about the threat posed by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein at the time.
Mr Blair's stance was at odds with the report's finding that war was not the last resort, but that Britain triggered military action before all options for a peaceful resolution to the crisis had been exhausted.
Families of some of the 179 military personnel killed in Iraq described the former PM as a "terrorist", and Jeremy Corbyn offered an apology on Labour's behalf for what he branded "a stain on our party and our country".
But Labour leader Mr Corbyn stopped short of calling for his predecessor to be tried for war crimes, as some had expected.
Mr Blair insisted he could look the families in the eye - and the nation - and state that he did not mislead anyone over the invasion, the service personnel did not die in vain, and he was right to do what he did.
The long-delayed Chilcot Report insisted Saddam posed "no imminent threat" at the time of the invasion, and the war was unleashed on the basis of "flawed" intelligence.
The probe was damning about the aftermath of the conflict, finding the military intervention ended six years later "a very long way from success".
It also blasted the "humiliating" spectacle of UK troops in Basra making deals with local militia who had been attacking them.
Mr Blair said he took responsibility for ";mistakes in planning and process" identified by the report, and felt "more sorrow, regret and apology than you may ever know" for the grief of those whose loved ones died.
Key findings in the 12-volunme report included:
- The case for war was presented with "a certainty which was not justified"
- It was based on "flawed" intelligence about the country's supposed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which was not challenged as it should have been
- The US-led coalition resorted to force to remove Saddam before peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted and in a way which undermined the authority of the United Nations Security Council
- Planning for post-conflict Iraq was "wholly inadequate", with shortfalls in armoured vehicles to protect UK troops which "should not have been tolerated"