UKIP Accuses Political Establishment of Iraq Report Cover-Up

There was anger as it emerged on Wednesday that the report into the reasons for going to war in Iraq in 2003 is to be further delayed — four years after it completed taking evidence.

UKIP immediately began an online petition to demand that its contents be known ahead of May's general election.

In letters published on Wednesday, the chairman of the inquiry, Sir John Chilcot told the Prime Minister David Cameron that he sees "no realistic prospect of delivering the report before the May 2015 General Election".

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: "It beggars belief that here we are, four years after the end of the Chilcot Inquiry, still waiting for the report. It smacks of an establishment cover-up, and one which I suggest the British public will see right through."

The nub of the report centres on the conversations and agreements the — then — Prime Minister, Tony Blair, had with (then) US President George W. Bush and whether or not Blair gave assurances of joining the invasion without the full consent of parliament.

If Blair — and others — have been criticised in the report, they are allowed due time to respond before the report is made public. Sir John confirmed this had been one of the reasons behind the delay. He confirmed that "individuals subject to criticism in the Inquiry's draft report are being given the opportunity to [respond]".

Tony Blair's office on Wednesday said: "Sir John's letter makes reference to notes and records concerning Mr Blair, which some may interpret as an implicit suggestion that Mr Blair caused the delay. This is not true,"

Behind Closed Doors

The run-up to the invasion of Iraq was a period of fervid political controversy. The first Gulf War — following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait — had left Saddam Hussein still in power in Iraq. It was US foreign policy to overthrow his regime and the US soon began warning of his threat to the Middle East, putting pressure on Britain to follow its rapaciousness for regime change.

Blair was being constrained by parliament and public opinion not to follow the US like a poodle and push for an invasion to topple the dictator. In September 2002, his government published a document alleging that there was evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had "military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons. Some of these weapons are deployable within 45 minutes of an order to use them". The authenticity of its sources was widely disputed.

In February 2003, Blair's team published a second dossier called Iraq — Its Infrastructure of Concealment, Deception and Intimidation, making further claims about the prevalence of Saddam Hussein's WMD capabilities, mostly based on an article by (then) graduate student Ibrahim al-Marashi, with key extracts being "hardened up" to improve the case for war.

Despite mass public protests against the war, Blair — who had been having many meetings and phone calls with Bush — convinced parliament that Saddam Hussein really was a threat and that Britain has to join the US.

Blair and Bush go to War in Iraq

On March 20, 2003, US and UK forces began the invasion that led to the eventual downfall of Saddam Hussein and his regime. Politicians from all sides of parliament in the UK called for an inquiry into what deals Tony Blair had made with then US President George W. Bush.

Finally, after years of pressure to uncover the deals made between Bush and Blair, the — then — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown caved in to public pressure and called for an inquiry which was launched in July 2009 chaired by Sir John Chilcot. Its terms of reference were to: "consider the period from the summer of 2001 to the end of July 2009, embracing the run-up to the conflict in Iraq, the military action and its aftermath….. the way decisions were made and actions taken, to establish, as accurately as possible, what happened and to identify the lessons that can be learned". 

Between November 2009 and February 2011, the inquiry heard from hundreds of witnesses and took in thousands of documents in an effort to discover the background to the decision to go to war with Iraq.

So far, the £7.4 million inquiry has yet to report. UKIP's Defence spokesperson Mike Hookem MEP told Sputnik UK:

"We are calling on people to sign this petition today because we all deserve answers. The war in Iraq, which led to our new enemies ISIS, cost around £10bn in public money, and far too much in blood. The British public must know, immediately, why we got involved in the first place, and why it went so horribly wrong."

There is growing resentment at the delay in publishing the report — although Blair himself has said he has done nothing to hinder its publication.

However, it will suit the current Labour leadership for nothing bad to come out ahead of a critical election. The Tories, too — who voted with Labour to go to war in Iraq — will want to sweep this one under the carpet for a while. The Liberal Democrats voted against going to war in 2003 and have the most to gain from the report's publication. The political establishment in Westminster is likely to ensure they do not get that opportunity.