IRAQ INQUIRY
Tony Blair was not ‘straight with the nation’ in the run-up to the Iraq War, says Sir John Chilcot
Chair of inquiry into botched military intervention said instead the ex-PM had been ‘emotionally truthful’ in his evidence
TONY Blair had not been “straight with the nation” about his decisions in the run-up to the Iraq War, according to Sir John Chilcot.
The man who led the inquiry into the botched military intervention said instead the former Prime Minister had been “emotionally truthful” – inferring he had relied on both emotion and fact in his evidence.
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Speaking a year after publishing his two-million word document into the 2003 conflict he also criticised Mr Blair for his relationship with then-US President George W Bush.
He commented on a note sent by Mr Blair to the White House in 2002 - in which he told him “I shall be with you whatever”.
Speaking to the he said his first thought was "you mustn't say that".
Sir John said his reaction was: "You're giving away far too much. You're making a binding commitment by one sovereign government to another which you can't fulfil.
“You're not in a position to fulfil it. I mean he didn't even know the legal position at that point."
And he went further in his assessment of Mr Blair’s conduct in the run up to the invasion than in the conclusion to his much-delayed report.
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Asked if Mr Blair was as truthful with him and the public as he should have been during the seven-year inquiry, he replied: "Can I slightly reword that to say I think any Prime Minister taking a country into war has got to be straight with the nation and carry it, so far as possible, with him or her.
"I don't believe that was the case in the Iraq instance."
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Sir John's report, published in July last year, found former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein posed ''no imminent threat'' at the time of the invasion of his country in 2003.
And he concluded the war was fought on the basis of ''flawed'' intelligence, but Mr Blair had denied he had taken the country to war on the basis of a "lie" over Hussein's supposed weapons of mass destruction.
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Asked if he felt the former Labour leader had given the fullest version of events to the inquiry, Sir John said: "I think he gave an - what was - I hesitate to say this, rather.
“But I think it was, from his perspective and standpoint, emotionally truthful and I think that came out also in his press conference after the launch statement.
"I think he was under - as you said just now - very great emotional pressure during those sessions ... He was suffering. He was deeply engaged.
“Now in that state of mind and mood you fall back on your instinctive skills and reactions, I think."
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In a now infamous claim, Mr Blair told MPs Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction, and later said intelligence showed the Iraqi tyrant could deploy chemical and biological weapons within 45 minutes.
Sir John's report found Mr Blair presented the case for war with "a certainty which was not justified" based on "flawed" intelligence about the country's supposed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which was not challenged as it should have been.
And the report said the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted and military action was not a last resort.
It added: "We have also concluded that the judgments about the severity of the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, WMD, were presented with a certainty that was not justified."
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Following the report's publication, Mr Blair said, while the Chilcot Report contained "serious criticisms", it showed "there were no lies, Parliament and the Cabinet were not misled, there was no secret commitment to war, intelligence was not falsified and the decision was made in good faith".
And in response to today’s interview a spokesman for Mr Blair said: “The BBC headline stems from words put into John Chilcot’s mouth by the interviewer.
“A full reading of the interview shows that Sir John makes clear that Mr Blair had not ‘departed from the truth’.
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They added: “Five different inquiries have all shown the same thing: that there was no falsifying of the intelligence.”
But yesterday it emerged a former chief-of-staff of the Iraqi army is seeking to bring a private prosecution against Mr Blair over the war.
The country’s top judge was asked to review whether or not he can be charged with a crime after being accused of “aggression” over the decision to invade the country and depose Saddam Hussein.
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