As is well known, after the entry of Britain into the Iraq War in 2003 during under the primeirship of Tony Blair and his Labour Party, it became clear that Saddam Hussein’s regime did not possess weapons of mass destruction, the destruction of which was one of the major pretexts for this aggression in the first place. Experts and human rights activists have repeatedly claimed that the British prime minister and American president deliberately misled the international community and citizens of their countries, seeking a justification to establish control over the rich oil fields of the Middle East.
There has been a lot of speculation that the recent delay may be dictated by certain members of the political elites of the United States and Great Britain, those very people who’s actions are being assessed by the investigation. Families of KIA British soldiers have repeatedly voiced their indignation over the unexplained delay in publishing the final findings that have been drafted for 6 years, while costing the British treasury more than 13 million euros. As it has recently been reported by The Guardian, a group of 29 such families delivered an ultimatum to the commission chairman, John Chilcot, threatening him that they will go to court should any more delays occur.
Jeremy Corbyn, a prominent member of the Labour Party, while speaking on the BBC program «Newsnight», urged former Prime Minister Tony Blair to recognize the fact that he had reached an agreement with George Bush on the eve of the invasion of Iraq. According to Corbyn, should the report on the invasion be published, it could lead to “consequences” for the former prime minister. Corbyn believes that his fellow party member Tony Blair must face trial on charges of war crimes, should the data found in the Chilcot report prove that the former prime minister disregarded international law by committing an illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003. He also thinks that the lack of results of this ongoing investigation can be explained by Washington’s position on this matter – the less crimes are known, the less public outrage Western elites will face.
However, the investigation into the causes and perpetrators of military aggression against Iraq is not only attracting the attention of the British public, American citizens claim their right to know the truth as well. As the news media portal Opednews.com stated, US citizens still do not understand why their government destroyed Iraq. However, they believe that the best interests of “national security” will not allow them to find out the true causes of this military adventure. Even though it’s hardly a secret for anyone that “National Security” – is but a cloak to hide all the crimes the White House has committed.
After the Operation Desert Storm, Washington showed no interest towards Iraq whatsoever until 2003, but then everything was to be changed abruptly. Washington would declare that Saddam Hussein posed a very real threat to world peace. The Secretary of State would go to the UN with a selective collection of lies about the mythical stockpile of WMDs to push for a decision. To sound more convincing in his speech, he mentioned the “fact” that Hussein’s secular regime is associated with Al-Qaeda, which at that point had already taken credit for the 9/11 attacks. As a result, Washington and its loyal allies – especially the United Kingdom, – destroyed the secular rule of Saddam Hussein, which had previously been able to unite the country.. The result was the transformation of Iraq into a region of constant fighting and violence associated with the US-British occupation of the country. Washington does not care about humanitarian issues. Its only concerns is its own hegemony. Washington is only bringing death to different regions as has already happened in Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Ukraine, Syria and now continues in Iraq.
In Syria, Washington is trying to use the exact same trick, which it has already used in Iraq and Libya to destroy local governments and keep the population in check by subjecting it to rule by jihadists. Those are the “achievements” of Washington and London in the Middle East. Even as Iraq falls apart under the blows of Al-Qaeda, the US and UK keep supplying its militants fighting in Syria with heavy weapons, while demonizing Iran who is doing its best to help Iraq in its fight against militants.
At a recent international panel discussion at Yale University, professor Immanuel Wallerstein stated that the US invasion of Iraq “led to a geopolitical disaster.” This statement has recently been confirmed by the US-British non-governmental human rights organization “Iraq Body Count” that provided data on the death toll that followed the occupation of Iraq. It’s stated that about 80,000 civilians were killed, while more than 160,000 were injured and maimed, a quarter of all victims – women and children .
So will the international community learn the true names of the perpetrators of the tragedy of Iraq, and other US-British military adventures in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Ukraine? Or should these “heroes” remain unchallenged, never having to face international condemnation?
Valery Kulikov, political analyst, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
