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Chilcot failed to interview Admiral Lord West Jon Snow Channel 4 news

530 views · Published 7 July 2016 · 4:18 · Indexed 14 November 2026

Channel: Public Enquiry · 2016 · News & Politics

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Lord West told Parliament’s The House magazine: “I think there had been a decision that we were going to invade Iraq, that that was going to happen, but they were looking for a reason to actually do it.
"Of course Blair and everyone else will say, 'No, we didn't make the decision until right up to it'. You can always say that, can't you?
“But I would not have told the fleets, the Royal Navy and the Marines, to be ready for war in the northern Gulf by the end of the year. I would not have sailed the Mine Counter-measures Force for the Middle East so they were in place for operations.
"You don't wake up in the morning and think that. Some bastard told me to do it. That's why I did it."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/chilcot-report-iraq-war-inquiry-tony-blair-un-resolution-planned-to-go-before-a7120201.html

Jon Snow Interviews Lord West
Former Navy Chief Admiral was not asked to give evidence at Chilcot enquiry.
Footage from Channel 4 news.

Admiral Lord West, who headed the Royal Navy when the invasion took place in March 2003, added fuel to the fire on Monday when he remarked that Blair had been looking for an excuse to wage war on Iraq as early as 2002.
That claim contradicts Blair's defense that he had "exhausted all diplomatic routes" before joining forces with Bush in 2003, as the Mirror notes.
According to The Independent, Lord West said that Blair's administration was just "looking for a reason to actually do it":
"I think there had been a decision that we were going to invade Iraq, that that was going to happen, but they were looking for a reason to actually do it.
"Of course Blair and everyone else will say, 'No, we didn't make the decision until right up to it'. You can always say that, can't you?
"But I would not have told the fleets, the Royal Navy and the Marines, to be ready for war in the northern Gulf by the end of the year. I would not have sailed the Mine Counter-measures Force for the Middle East so they were in place for operations.
"You don't wake up in the morning and think that. Some bastard told me to do it. That's why I did it."
Former Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond is among those who are predicting that the Chilcot inquiry's results will spell bad news for Blair.  http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/07/05/eve-chilcot-critics-intensify-calls-tony-blair-face-reckoning

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