Blood on his hands: Should Tony Blair be prosecuted for war crimes?
- Text by Max Gayler
- Photography by Seb Heseltine
“I will be with you, whatever,” Tony Blair allegedly told George Bush ahead of the Iraq invasion in 2003.
Blair’s decision to side with Bush over the millions of people who marched in the streets to oppose the war destroyed his political reputation. Today the Chilcot Inquiry delivered a damning assessment of Blair’s decision to push ahead with the war, on the basis of flawed intelligence and without exhausting all options for a peaceful solution to the diplomatic crisis.
“Blair should be held to the highest level of account in this country”, Caroline Lucas MP told Huck. “The first thing we need to do is to make sure this country ratifies the amendment with International Criminal Court, which means that lies of aggression can be punished.”
Blair’s failure to make a suitable plan for post-invasion governance was blamed for the Iraqi civil war that developed on his watch, the violence and corruption that still plagues the country, and the displacement of three-to-five million Iraqis.
Conservative estimates put the Iraq death toll at over 150,000, but if we take into account the regional instability unleashed, such as the Syrian conflict, that number could be even higher.
So, while Chilcot has not ruled on the legality of the war, he placed blame squarely at Blair’s door. Should he be tried for war crimes? We asked those who’d gathered outside the inquiry for their thoughts.
George Kerevan MP
Incasa Oraibi
Murad Qureshi
Zailat Mimi
Daniel Taylor
Simon Jay
Gareth Jenkins
Andy Robinson
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