{"id":75517,"date":"2016-06-27T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=75517"},"modified":"2016-06-23T18:24:40","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T17:24:40","slug":"the-chilcot-inquiry-report-into-the-invasion-of-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/06\/the-chilcot-inquiry-report-into-the-invasion-of-iraq\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chilcot Inquiry Report into the Invasion of Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bpic<\/a>The long awaited Chilcot report (5 years) on the Invasion of Iraq will finally be released on 6th<\/sup> July, 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Report is to be welcomed and the hope expressed that this inquiry will tell the truth of what happened to Iraqi people, and UK\u2019s involvement, through an official government recognition of facts of\u00a0 the wars, sanctions and invasion of Iraq \u00a0and for transparency, accountability and \u00a0reparation to be paid to the Iraqi people by UK \u00a0Government who participated in \u00a0these illegal and immoral genocidal wars.<\/p>\n

The story of what was done to the Iraqi people by UK and Western allies is shocking and deeply disturbing. The two wars, the imposition of economic sanctions, causing the slow deaths of thousands of people, were indeed crimes against humanity, war crimes, breaking all international obligations and conducted with no respect for human life or Iraqi people\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n

The UK\/USA acted unilaterally ignoring the principal of multilaterism and irrespective of the enormous opposition to war against Iraq, articulated by millions of people around the world.\u00a0 The invasion was carried out by US\/UK NATO forces on the basis of a \u2018lie\u2019 that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and was a threat to the US.<\/p>\n

The foreign policy of the US\/UK governments were for regime change and about Iraqi oil, and the method used were genocidal sanctions, wars and invasion of Iraq.\u00a0 The \u2018shock and awe\u2019 bombings of unarmed civilians by US\/UK\/allied forces was not about bringing democracy and human rights to Iraq, it was about regime change, oil,\u00a0 imperial power, arms and total destruction of infrastructure and starvation into submission of Iraq women and children.<\/p>\n

The arrogance and superiority of UK, USA and allies as they set aside international law and institutions of world order by their hegemony in a new era of dedication to \u2018war on terror\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Many anti-war and peace campaigners and people marched in their millions around the world, to say \u2018No to war<\/em>\u2019. However, millions of world citizens whose pleas for peace and dialogue were totally swept aside by governments, continue to say USA\/UK governments and others were wrong, and on their behalf, \u00a0\u2018we are sorry\u2019 \u2018please forgive us\u2019 for the war crimes committed against the Iraqi people.<\/p>\n

The truth of the injustice perpetrated by the UK \u00a0invasion of Iraq, about the mass murder of innocent Iraqi children through sanctions, their families, homes, food chain destroyed, bombs dropped with depleted uranium, white phosphorus dropped on civilians and land, destruction of infrastructure, torture, invasion, occupations, renditions, extra judicial murders, theft of oil and resources, needs to be told in the hope that justice will be done and reparation for such injustice be made.<\/p>\n