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Chilcot To Be Boycotted By Families Amid 'Whitewash' Fears
The long-awaited Chilcot inquiry report into the UK's participation in the Iraq War will be boycotted by relatives of some of the 179 Britons killed in the conflict, who fear it will be a "whitewash".
The two million-word report, six years in the making, will be unveiled by Sir John Chilcot on Wednesday.
Tony Blair, Prime Minister when Britain went to war, has said he will not make any comment until the report is made public.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has indicated the former Labour leader will not be liable for prosecution, reiterating its conclusion 10 years ago that the decision to go to war is not within its jurisdiction. In a statement to the Sunday Telegraph the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC said:
"As already indicated by the Office in 2006, the 'decision by the UK to go to war in Iraq falls outside the court's jurisdiction'."
But ICC prosecutors will examine the 2.6 million-word report for evidence of war crimes by British troops.
The court said it will look at the report's findings before deciding whether there is a "reasonable basis" to begin an investigation.
"We will take note of the Chilcot report when released in the context of its ongoing preliminary examination work concerning Iraq/UK. A preliminary examination is not an investigation, but a process aimed at determining whether reasonable basis exist to open an investigation."
Conservative MP Sir Gerald Howarth said any such move would be "completely contemptible". He said:
"I do not think it's a matter for the ICC. It's a matter for our courts and our parliament. We sent the troops; it's our job to determine whether they acted properly. We have the highest standards in our legal system."
Asked if he thought the UK should pull out of the ICC if the court brings charges against British soldiers, he said: "I certainly do think so. He added:
"The idea that the ICC is viewing the conduct of British soldiers a decade ago, when they were sent out there by the politicians to do their best, verges on the offensive.
"The idea that the ICC intends to distinguish between the soldiers and those who gave the orders is just contemptible."
"We give these guys the orders to do the nation's dirty business for them.
"The very least we can do is to stand by these men, when they have been subjected to the most disgraceful series of accusations from ambulance chasing lawyers, who suck up any accusation, however unfounded."
Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokesman said it would be wrong for "our Armed Forces who served with such bravery, who put their lives on the line, to face uncertainty and unfounded allegations."
Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, meanwhile, said there "has to be a judicial or political reckoning" for Blair's role in the Iraq conflict while shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the "processes" of how Britain ended up at war must be examined "so we never ever get into this tragic, tragic mess again with such loss of life". Speaking to Sky News on Sunday Mr Blair said:
"I have taken the view, I think rightly or wrongly, we should wait for the report to be published and then I will express myself and I'm not getting into either the politics or the detail of it until I've actually seen it."
A number of MPs are expected to try to use an ancient law to try to impeach the former prime minister once the findings are published.
Some of those whose loved ones died in the war between 2003 and 2009 fear the report will not give them the answers they want, meanwhile.
Gary Nicholson, 42, was one of 10 servicemen who died when their Hercules C-130 aircraft was shot down in 2005. His mother Julia said:
"It will be a whitewash. I'm absolutely disgusted. I'm not going because it will be a whitewash. Tony Blair has got blood on his hands. He will have covered his back and (George) Bush's back."
Janice Procter, whose son Michael Trench, 18, was one of the youngest British soldiers to die in Iraq when he was killed in 2007, said: "It's been horrendous, I'm very apprehensive about this.
"This man (Blair) has put 179 kids to the slaughter - there's no justice. It (the report) is not going to give me any closure or comfort." She added:
"I'm not going down on the day, I'm not going to waste two hours of my life reading it."
Cover image a library photo.
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