Blair lied about the WMD’s, the case for war and his knowledge of the risks – he should stand trial for war crimes

The Chilcot Report is damning. Only its limited terms of reference prevent Tony Blair from being arrested for war crimes today.

All those who marched against the Iraq War have been vindicated, the Labour MP’s who voted for a bloody, unjustified, agressive and illegal war have blood on their hands. No suprise that these are the same Labour MP’s who call themselves ‘moderates’ and who conspire with the tories, the corporate media and Blair’s PR companies to try and silence peace activists like Jerermy Corbyn and his supporters.

Let us examine some of the litany of criticisms made by the Chilcot Report.

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Blair and New Labour chose war over peace

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“We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort.”

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Blair lied about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

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Blair deliberately lied about the ‘threat’ posed by Iraq so he could hype the need for war to MPs and the wider public . Blair disregarded all warnings about the potential for disastrous consequences of a war including those best in a position to provide them – the intelligence services.

“The judgments about Iraq’s capabilities … were presented with a certainty that was not justified,”

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There was no ‘imminent’ threat from Saddam Hussein

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Iran, North Korea and Libya were thought to be more dangerous and sanctions against Iraq could have been continued as a strategy of “containment” with little risk.

“the UK Joint Intelligence Committee believed it would take Iraq five years, after the lifting of sanctions, to produce enough fissile material for a weapon.”

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Blair knew of the risks of war – but went ahead anyway

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Six months before the invasion, Foreign Office and intelligence reports indicated the war would create an “easier environment for terrorists” and the destabilisation of the country. An FCO paper on Islamism in Iraq, shared with the Americans in December 2002, even foreshadowed the rise of extremist groups like Isis.

“We do not agree that hindsight is required. The risks of internal strife in Iraq, active Iranian pursuit of its interests, regional instability, and al Qaeda activity in Iraq, were explicitly identified before the invasion.”

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What the Chilcot report doesn’t address (because of its terms of reference) is whether Blair lied to parliament, whether the war was illegal and the real motivations behind coalition aggression in Iraq. If it wasn’t a defensive war based on any real threat, then what kind was it? A war of geopolitical imperialism and a naked grab for the oil resources of the region? It sure looks that way to all at The Haze.

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Going forwards from the Chilcot Report

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Tony Blair is not a reliable witness. He distorted and misrepresented evidence in the run up to the Iraq War and his assertions to the  Chilcot Enquiry have been utterly rejected.

There is an overwhelming case that Tony Blair and his sleazy enablers in New Labour should stand trial in an international court for war crimes. If Mr Blair is innocent, he can be found innocent, but the millions dead, wounded and displaced by Blair’s war, scream a moral case for at least an examination of its legality.

Those Blairite Labour MP’s who plunged the UK into an aggressive war, who ignored the largest protest march in the UK’s history and who still conspire to undermine those principled few within parliament (like Jeremy Corbyn) who opposed the Iraq War have no place in the Labour Party. They didn’t represent the Labour movement then and they don’t represent it now.

The toxic rump of Blair’s supporters and hangers on need to be subject once again to democratic scrutiny, Only an extraordinary arrogance and sense of entitlement props up their assertions of legitimacy. Only by standing his ground and deepening the return of democracy to the Labour movement will Jeremy Corbyn be able to exorcise the ghosts of New Labour’s bloody past.

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War solves nothing.

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Blair’s war has made the world less safe, has torn apart a sovereign nation which had committed no crime against the UK, has destroyed the lives of millions of innocent men, women and children and raised the spectre of ISIS and other terrorist organisations as well.

Let us always remember those who protested against the Iraq War – who predicted with great wisdom the consequences of war and who were ignored and trampled over.

Let us remember people like Hilary Benn and how the corporate media and the tories all loved his war mongering speeches about Syria. Let us also remember the disastrous interventions in Afghanistan and Libya and say loud and clear “WAR SOLVES NOTHING”. 

The Labour movement faces a straight forward choice – either it chooses the peacemakers like Jeremy Corbyn who side with democracy and the people…

… or it affirms the war mongers like Hilary Benn and the whole shameful roll call of faux Labour MP’s who side with corporate power and imperialist aggression.  

Let us choose wisely and fight tenaciously for the right choice – so we can utter the words “never again” with conviction and not despair.