Iraq War was not a last resort and evidence was exaggerated, says Chilcot inquiry

Sir John Chilcot has issued a damning report into the British Government’s actions before and during the Iraq war.

In a statement introducing the 2.5 million-word report, Sir John said that the war was not a last resort; that Prime Minister Tony Blair presented evidence on weapons of mass destruction “with a certainty that was not justified”; and that planning for post-war Iraq was “wholly inadequate”.

The report does not have the authority to make a definitive judgment on whether the war was legal. But Sir John, who had taken seven years to issue the report, said he had concluded that the circumstances on which the legal decision was taken were “far from satisfactory”.