Chilcot Inquiry: The Case for the Iraq War

13th May 2011 - The Chilcot Inquiry into the disastrous Iraq War has been a largely depressing affair.

It has cost millions of pounds, dragged on for two years and – when the key players appeared before the inquiry panel – the questioning was unfocused and inadequate.

Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell were slippery, unrepentant and able to complete their evidence unscathed –much to the anger and disgust of the families of the 179 soldiers who gave their lives in this most bloody of conflicts.

Yesterday, however, the inquiry – at long last – showed some teeth, publishing hitherto secret papers revealing Mr Campbell had lied to the panel.

The arch-manipulator had shamelessly insisted to Sir John Chilcot that the notorious dodgy dossier, published in the build-up to the invasion, was not about putting the ‘case for war’.

Now we learn that, after hearing this evidence, no less a figure than Major General Michael Laurie, the MoD’s senior intelligence official, wrote to the inquiry to say this had been precisely the reason for the document – and, crucially, Downing Street had made that clear at the time.

A second set of papers, also declassified yesterday, made plain what Britain’s spy chiefs considered the consequences of the Iraq War to have been: to make us a target for attack by Islamist fanatics. {continued}

12 May 2011 - Today the Inquiry publishes five witness statements from: Rt Hon Jack Straw MP (Foreign Secretary 2001-2006); Rt Hon Denis MacShane MP (Minister for Europe 2002-2005), Sir Hilary Synnott KCMG (Head of Coalition Provisional Authority South 2003-2004), Major General Michael Laurie CBE (Director General Intelligence Collection 2002-2003) and Major General Tim Tyler CB (Deputy Commander Iraq Survey Group 2004). {backlinks to statements, more}