Why is Sir John Chilcot dragging his feet? At the beginning of the year, Chilcot promised that his long-delayed inquiry into the Iraq war will not be published until after the United Kingdom general election. He said there was no realistic chance of evaluating the responses from those criticised in the draft report before that. That election has come and gone, but there is still no report. We still are no closer to learning when did former UK premier Tony Blair agree to former United States president George W. Bush’s request for assistance in the illegal invasion.
The inquiry, chaired by the former Whitehall mandarin, was established in 2009. And not a comma has been revealed since. The delay has dismayed the families of personnel killed in the conflict and led to complaints that it is prolonging their anguish. It has also seen Chilcot come under criticism from British MPs, with Prime Minister David Cameron and other ministers repeatedly expressing their frustration. And those who are still suffering in Iraq as a result of that invasion would like some answers too.
