Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Seán Crowe TD, responding to the Chilcot Report into the Iraq War, has stated that the Westminster political establishment must accept that it is culpable for the carnage that their illegal war caused.

Deputy Crowe said:

“It has been a long seven year wait for the Chilcot report.

“Britain and the USA’s illegal invasion of Iraq began on 20 March 2003. It was sold to the public on the back of lies that were padded with contrived and fake intelligence that weapons of mass destruction were being held by Saddam Hussein.

“The carnage, death, and destruction that this invasion is responsible for is impossible to accurately state, but according to the latest figures from the Iraq Body Count organisation, the number of civilians killed by violence since the invasion is between 160,400 and 179,312. This is an absolute minimum figure with the real figure estimated to be far higher, including the millions who have been forced to flee from their homes and become refugees.

“Tony Blair once famously said that he felt the hand of history on his shoulder. It is eminently clear that the hand of history is now pointing directly at the Westminster political establishment who are culpable for the carnage that they have inflicted on Iraq and its people.

“I remember marching with Sinn Féin in the 100,000 strong protest march on the streets of Dublin to protest this impending illegal invasion of Iraq. Sinn Féin was against this conflict from the beginning. We called on the Irish Government to oppose it and play no act or part in it.

“Sadly the Irish Government didn’t listen to the popular and just demands of the Irish people and instead help to facilitate this war by allowing Shannon airport to become a staging post for the US military’s operations in the Middle East.

“Tony Blair had a personal and legal responsibility as the Prime Minister of Britain at the time of the illegal invasion of Iraq. The Chilcot Report makes clear that the former Prime Minister led Britain into the Iraq War before ‘peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted’ and military action was ‘not a last resort’ at the time, among other damning findings.

“Tony Blair should be held accountable for the carnage, death and destruction that his lies and those of his administration facilitated.”

ENDS