Families of UK soldiers killed in Iraq to take Blair to court

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves his office in central London on July 5, 2016. (AFP photo)

Relatives of British soldiers killed during the Iraq war say they will take former Prime Minister Tony Blair to court if a long-awaited report due to be published on Wednesday finds that he acted wrongly over the war.
Blair faces heavy criticism from the seven-year-long Iraq Inquiry, also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot, which was established in 2009 to investigate Britain’s role in the Iraq war and its aftermath that saw British forces remain in the Arab country for six years.
Sir John Chilcot has said the report would criticise individuals and institutions and hopes it would help families of the 179 Britons who died between 2003 and 2009 answer some questions.
Sources close to Blair say he will try to defend himself against possible war crime accusations in the Chilcot Inquiry by claiming that he was given wrong intelligence on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.
Families of the British soldiers, sailors and airmen who died during the war are preparing to take Blair to court for following the United States’ footsteps into a six-year-long illegal war.

This AFP file photo taken on July 30, 2009 shows John Chilcot, the Chairman of the Iraq Inquiry, outlining the terms of reference for the inquiry.

Previously the International Criminal Court said it would not prosecute Blair if it found traces of war crimes in the upcoming report.
Launched by the administration of former US president George W. Bush with strong UK backing, the war led to the deaths of more than one million Iraqis.
Blair has always denied the claim that he and Bush signed a deal “in blood” at Crawford, Texas, to launch a war against Iraq that began on March 20, 2003.
The invasion plunged Iraq into chaos, resulting in years of deadly violence and the rise of terrorist groups like Daesh (ISIL).