Chilcot Report:No revelations
The Chilcot Report, which was released on Wednesday at long last, has left those who expected more light to be shed on the illegal invasion of Iraq none the wiser. It has only recorded what was known to the entire world about one and a half decades ago—the US and the UK waged an illegal war against Iraq.
The gist of what the war inquiry panel headed by Sir John Chilcot has said is that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before all peaceful options had been exhausted. Who didn’t know that the invasion was no pis aller? It was a war for oil!
If the Chilcot report has served any purpose it is the assertion that there are no grounds for Blair to justify the destruction of Iraq. One may argue that the illegal invasion was a far worse crime than the ones Saddam Hussein was hanged for. How do those who are shedding copious tears for the war victims elsewhere think Blair and George Bush should be dealt with for their crimes against the Iraqi people? Are they too big to be tried for war crimes?
The report says Britain’s actions undermined the authority of the United Nations Security Council though the Blair government was claiming to act on behalf of the international community. What action will the UN take to assert itself and to prevent a repetition of such criminal activities?
Blair has, true to form, sought to defend the indefensible. He has told the media the world is in a better position today because of the Iraqi invasion. Has he taken leave of his senses?
Saddam Hussein, no doubt, had to be tamed, but the war which the US and the UK jointly fought have landed the world in a far worse situation with the IS terrorists wreaking havoc not only in Iraq but also in other countries at will. Iraq has descended to the depths of anarchy with no hope of recovery.
There is a pressing need for assessing the human cost of the illegal Iraq war. About one million lives are believed to have been destroyed. The Chilcot report does not deal with the humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq.
It will be interesting to see the reaction of the UNHRC, especially its head Zeid Hussein and the international human rights groups to the Chilcot report. Will they call for a war crimes probe against the UK on the basis of irrefutable evidence?
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn got it right when he described the Iraqi war as ‘an act of military aggression launched on a false pretext’. He has said the war had ‘long been regarded as illegal by the overwhelming weight of international opinion’. He has struck a responsive chord with the right-thinking people the world over. Some prominent Conservatives have torn into Blair, but the fact remains that they threw their weight behind Blair when he asked for parliamentary approval for his illegal war and made crimes against the Iraqi population possible; they, too have the blood of civilians on their hands.
The US is busy ‘exporting democracy’ and pontificating on the virtues of human rights to the rest of the world; it has also taken upon itself the task of having war crimes probed the world over. How does it propose to deal with Bush, who together with Blair, destroyed Iraq on some flimsy pretext?
Before worrying about alleged atrocities against civilians in other countries, shouldn’t the UK put its own house in order? The same goes for the US, which has taken up the cudgels for the people caught up in armed conflicts in the Global South.
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