Iraq: Chilcot Report Delayed Further

Chilcot report into 2003 Iraq conflict delayed further

Due to have been published three years ago, the Chilcot report now threatens to haunt UK politics ahead of the 2015 election

26 June 2014 - The Chilcot inquiry, which is expected to contain damning criticism of the way Tony Blair and his close advisers led Britain into war against Iraq, is unlikely to be published until next year, the Guardian has learned.

A further delay in the report on the 2003 invasion, due to have been published three years ago, could mean the issue will continue to haunt British politics in the runup to next year's general election.

That is likely to be even more the case if there is no end in sight to the present crisis in Iraq which threatens to perpetuate deep divisions and violence in the oil-rich country.

Whitehall sources suggest the latest delay in the long-awaited report is the result of continuing disputes over criticisms the Chilcot panel plan to make of Blair and other ministers and advisers involved in the decision to invade Iraq.

Chilcot announced last month that after years of heated disputes with successive cabinet secretaries, and discussions with Washington, he had agreed to a settlement whereby summaries, and "the gist", of more than a hundred records of conversations between Blair and George Bush in the runup to the invasion, and of records of 200 cabinet discussions, would be published, but not the documents themselves.

Chilcot has described the content of the documents as "vital to the public understanding of the inquiry's conclusions". read more>>>

* * * The British Iraq War Inquiry * * * All but those correspondence, bush/blair, and any still classified closed door testimony and reports!!