Cameron was addressing the House of Commons after the release of an official inquiry by John Chilcot earlier on Wednesday into the bloody and controversial conflict to remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
"There are some lessons that we do need to learn and frankly keep on learning. Taking the country to war should always be a last resort, and should only be done if all credible alternatives have been exhausted," Cameron told MPs as he announced a two-day parliamentary debate next week on the report's findings.
In reference to Tony Blair, who was prime minister during the war and who has been severely rebuked in the report, Cameron admitted the Labour leader had given commitments to then US President George W Bush that were not discussed openly in Cabinet.
- "However,at no stage does he (Chilcot) explicitly say that there was a deliberate attempt to mislead people," Cameron notes.
- He also stressed the importance of the UK's close relationship with the US and warned, "It is wrong to conclude that we should not stand with US allies when our common interest is threatened. Britain has no greater friend or ally in the world than America".
The opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn told the Commons in his reaction that "by any measure, the invasion and occupation of Iraq have been, for many, a catastrophe".
"We now know that the House was misled in the run up to the war, and the House must now decide how it should deal with it 13 years later...Going to war without UN authorisation was profoundly dangerous," he said.
The report, which is estimated to have cost over 10 million pounds of taxpayers' money, has been chaired by former senior civil servant Chilcot and has taken seven years to complete.
It has been described as one of the most highly anticipated inquiries launched by the UK in recent times.
[PTI/zeenews.india.com]
6/7/16
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Blair promised Bush unconditional support to invade Iraq in 2003...
ReplyDeleteA confidential memo sent by former British prime minister Tony Blair to then United States President George W. Bush expressed full support for an invasion of Iraq, according to an official report released Wednesday by an inquiry into the 2003 Iraq War.
"I'll be with you, whatever," Tony Blair wrote to George W. Bush in a memo dated July 28, 2002 _ eigh months before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
The information was published by the Iraq Inquiry, referred to as the Chilcot report, which is a public inquiry into the United Kingdom's role in the Iraq War between 2001 and 2009.
The Inquiry, which was announced in 2009, was pursued by a council of senior advisers _ called Privy Counselors _ and chaired by John Chilcot.
In the same memo offering unconditional support, Blair advised that Bush seek a resolution from the United Nations authorizing armed action, which ultimately was never issued.
"The planning on this and the strategy are the toughest yet," Blair said.
"This is not Kosovo," he said, adding, "This is not Afghanistan."
In the document, Blair, who ruled from 1997 to 2007, acknowledged he was not sure he could guarantee the UK's support for Bush's plan to attack and overthrow then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
"In Britain, right now I couldn't be sure of support from Parliament, Party, public or even some of the Cabinet," Blair wrote.
He also warned of possible negative consequences: "If we win quickly, everyone will be our friend. If we don't and they haven't been bound in beforehand, recriminations will start fast."
Among other documents, a total 29 private correspondences between Bush and Blair from 2001 to 2007 were released.
EFE
6/7/16