The Chilcot Inquiry Report into the Invasion of Iraq
NOBEL LAUREATES, 27 Jun 2016
Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate – TRANSCEND Media Service
The long awaited Chilcot report (5 years) on the Invasion of Iraq will finally be released on 6th July, 2016.
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’s involvement, through an official government recognition of facts of the wars, sanctions and invasion of Iraq and for transparency, accountability and reparation to be paid to the Iraqi people by UK Government who participated in these illegal and immoral genocidal wars.
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’s rights.
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. The invasion was carried out by US/UK NATO forces on the basis of a ‘lie’ that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and was a threat to the US.
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. The ‘shock and awe’ 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, imperial power, arms and total destruction of infrastructure and starvation into submission of Iraq women and children.
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 ‘war on terror’. Many anti-war and peace campaigners and people marched in their millions around the world, to say ‘No to war’. 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, ‘we are sorry’ ‘please forgive us’ for the war crimes committed against the Iraqi people.
The truth of the injustice perpetrated by the UK invasion 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.
- I personally witnessed the horrors of war and sanctions when I visited Iraq in l999 after the first Gulf war and during the economic sanction regime put on by the West. Our peace delegation visited hospitals where children lay slowing dying in agony with no pain medication, from malnutrition and preventable diseases. Doctors pleading with us to help get the sanctions lifted to save their people. (Over one million Iraqi children under the age of five died as a result of economic sanctions put on by UK and western governments).
- During meetings with Iraqi government officials they told us they wanted to enter into Dialogue with UK/USA gov. and diplomats to save Iraq from Invasion but no dialogue was being pursued only a western imperial war agenda for power and control.
- UN officials told us that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and Iraq was not a military threat to anyone outside of Iraq.
- The tragedy of Iraq is that with a political will by UK/USA gov’t. to solve the problem through dialogue and diplomacy so many millions of Iraqi lives, and the lives of UK/USA, soldiers could have been saved. There was (as there always is) and alternative to violence and war and Iraq was yet another war that did not need to be fought).
I personally would like to see the report contain an admission of war crimes, and an apology to the people of Iraq so that the ground will be set for healing, forgiveness, peace and reconciliation in a country now being tragically torn apart by violence, sectarianism and war. The long road to peace in Iraq can be helped by the UK government, who participated in the Iraqi war, telling the truth and by saying ‘we are sorry’ ‘please forgive us’ and contributing where possible to the building of peace and reconciliation in Iraq.
Further report on Iraqi Peace Delegation ‘The Iraq War and its Consequences’ Thoughts of Nobel Peace Laureates and Eminent Scholars’ Editors Irwin Abrams and Wang Gungwu http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/5381
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Mairead Corrigan Maguire, co-founder of Peace People, is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment. She won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for her work for peace in Northern Ireland. Her book The Vision of Peace (edited by John Dear, with a foreword by Desmond Tutu and a preface by the Dalai Lama) is available from www.wipfandstock.com. She lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland. See: www.peacepeople.com.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 27 Jun 2016.
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I always love reading Mairead Maguire’s humanistic thoughts, writings and proposals. I agree with most of I read, but I also like to “interpret” what politicians think and say. For instance, Mairead says “During meetings with Iraqi government officials they told us they wanted to enter into Dialogue with UK/USA gov. and diplomats to save Iraq from Invasion but no dialogue was being pursued”./
This is not quite so. Politicians “speak” of Peace, but they promote war, and Saddam Hussein and his Government were no exception. Hussein proved hislove of attack, invasion and murder with his wars against Iran and against the Kurds, as well as by his invasiuon of Kuwait.
Furthermore, Iraqi politicians kept a “constant” dialogue with the British and American Government, right until the day before the invasion of 2003, harmoniously agreed by ALL parties. In fact, allowing their country to be derstroyed, help several leading Iraqi politicians and other negotiators become very rich. Some went on to make impressive political careers.
As for the fairness of the Chilcot enquiry, I wouldn’t be that optimistic. Chilcot made it last far longer than necessary, to help his friend Tony Blair. After all, they’nve been friends since the days Blair was in the Opposition. Once Prime Minister, Blair, at the first opportunity, after a dinner with Chilcot in a private club, knighted his friend.
Let’s see what happens. Personally, I’d like to see Blair be made to publicly apologize to all bereaved families, British, Iraqi, Italian, American, French, etc. My fine would be to give at least half of the MANY millions his Games of War produced for him, not only in Iraq, but as “WAR Envoy” to the Middle East. (Tunisia, Lybia, Egypt, Yemen, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.
Alberto
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