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'Blair is world's worst terrorist': families of Iraq war victims react to Chilcot report 'Blair is world's worst terrorist': families of Iraq war victims react to Chilcot report
(35 minutes later)
Tony Blair has been described as “the world’s worst terrorist” by a woman who lost her brother in the Iraq war.Tony Blair has been described as “the world’s worst terrorist” by a woman who lost her brother in the Iraq war.
Sarah O’Connor broke down in tears as she answered questions on the long-awaited Chilcot report, which concludes that Blair had gone to war before “peaceful options for disarmament” had been exhausted. Sarah O’Connor broke down in tears as she answered questions on the long-awaited Chilcot report, which concluded that Blair had gone to war before “peaceful options for disarmament” had been exhausted.
“There is one terrorist in this world that the world needs to be aware of, and his name is Tony Blair, the world’s worst terrorist,” she said.“There is one terrorist in this world that the world needs to be aware of, and his name is Tony Blair, the world’s worst terrorist,” she said.
Sarah’s brother, 38-year-old Sgt Bob O’Connor, was killed alongside nine other airmen when the Hercules plane they were in was shot down north-west of Baghdad in 2005.Sarah’s brother, 38-year-old Sgt Bob O’Connor, was killed alongside nine other airmen when the Hercules plane they were in was shot down north-west of Baghdad in 2005.
She was one of several grieving mothers, fathers, partners and other family members who streamed into the Queen Elizabeth II centre in London, where they were given an early glimpse of the 2.6m-word, 12-volume report. The families have said they reserve the right to take legal action over their losses, but Matthew Jury, who represents the family members of 29 people who died, said it was too early to make decisions.
The anti-Iraq war campaigner Reg Keys said he felt his son, L/Cpl Thomas Keys, had “died in vain” given the continuing atrocities in Iraq, including the car bombing in Baghdad this week which has killed more than 250 people. Several grieving mothers, fathers, partners and other family members had streamed into the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London, where they were given an early glimpse of the 2.6m-word, 12-volume report.
Keys has worked for 13 years to get the truth about his 20-year-old son’s death and the 178 other UK military personnel killed in the short but devastating war. The assembled relatives welcomed the report, with many saying it had set down in black and white what they had been arguing for more than a decade.
He said he now knows his son was deployed on a “falsehood” and hinted at further action, saying the Chilcot families now had “evidence to go forward with”. He told reporters: “I wonder constantly what the expression was on Tom’s face as he met his brutal end.” Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was 19 when he was killed, said: “Now we can turn and say we have got the proof. Twelve years of fighting for my son have been worth it.”
Eddie Hancock, from Wigan, whose 19-year-old son, Jamie, was a Kingsman with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment when he was killed in Basra in 2006, said: “First of all, Chilcot’s report … he’s done exactly as he said he would – it wasn’t a whitewash by any means. He’s fulfilled the promises that he made in 2009. The anti-Iraq war campaigner Reg Keys said he felt his son L/Cpl Thomas Keys had “died in vain” given the continuing atrocities in Iraq, including the car bombing in Baghdad this week that killed more than 250 people.
“Obviously, some people will never be happy unless there’s a rope there. But, what he has actually said is that Blair undermined the United Nations. Now, if somebody does that, you would think that the act was illegal. He’s also misled parliament, he’s fabricated facts and misrepresented them. Keys has worked for 13 years to get the truth about the death of his 20-year-old son and those of 178 other UK military personnel during the short but devastating war.
“I hope and I would like to call on all politicians in this country that for the grievous damage this man has inflicted on this nation, on its armed forces, that he be banned from any form of public office for life. At the very least.” He said he now knew his son had been deployed on a “falsehood” and hinted at further action, saying the Chilcot families now had “evidence to go forward with”. He told reporters: “I wonder constantly what the expression was on Tom’s face as he met his brutal end.”
The parents of Alec MacLachlan, from Llanelli, south Wales, who served in Iraq and returned to the country as a private security guard in 2006 where he was kidnapped and killed, said it was clear from the report that Blair was “George Bush’s poodle”. Pauline Graham, Gordon Gentle’s grandmother and Rose Gentle’s mother, said: “Now we know where we stand and what we can do. Tony Blair should be taken to court for trial for murder. He can’t get away with this any more.”
As he left the QEII centre in central London, Peter MacLachlan said: “The report was very factual. And it didn’t hold anything back.” He said he did not think the war was based on a lie but added “in the future they should think of the consequences for a lot longer”. Many spoke of their relief that the report has finally been published. Eddie Hancock, from Wigan, whose 19-year-old son Jamie, was a Kingsman with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment when he was killed in Basra in 2006, said: “First of all, Chilcot’s report … he’s done exactly as he said he would – it wasn’t a whitewash by any means. He’s fulfilled the promises that he made in 2009.
“Obviously, some people will never be happy unless there’s a rope there. But what he has actually said is that Blair undermined the United Nations. Now, if somebody does that, you would think that the act was illegal. He’s also misled parliament, he’s fabricated facts and misrepresented them.
“I hope and I would like to call on all politicians in this country that for the grievous damage this man has inflicted on this nation, on its armed forces, he be banned from any form of public office for life. At the very least.”
Some fought back tears while speaking of the loved ones they had lost, and there was also widespread anger. Mark Thompson, father of Kevin Thompson, who was killed in 2007, said he blamed Blair.
“He’s destroyed families. We have lost grandchildren. We have lost a daughter-in-law. He’s got everything. He should be stripped of everything he has for what he’s done,” said Thompson. “It was an illegal war. My son died in vain. He died for no reason.”
Peter Brierley, whose son Shaun died in 2003, said: “What I have always said is what I want is to be able to go home, sit in my chair, switch on the telly and say I have done everything I possibly can. There is nothing else I can do for my son. With this today, that seems at least to be closer now.”
The parents of Alec MacLachlan, from Llanelli, south Wales, who served in Iraq and returned to the country as a private security guard in 2006 where he was kidnapped and killed, said it was clear from the report that Blair had been “George Bush’s poodle”.
As he left the QEII Centre in central London, Peter MacLachlan said: “The report was very factual. And it didn’t hold anything back.” He said he did not think the war had been based on a lie but added: “In the future they should think of the consequences for a lot longer.”
Roger Bacon, whose son Major Matthew Bacon died in a roadside bomb near Basra, said: “Good government and democracy must not be trampled over particularly with such cost to British and foreign lives.”
He said the families were proud of their sons and daughters, but “we cannot be proud of the way our government has treated them”.
Indicating that legal action was being considered, he said: “We will reserve the rights, ourselves, to call specific parties to answer for their actions in the courts if such process is found to be viable.”
Blair has said the report cleared him of allegations of lies or deceit. He said he would take “full responsibility for any mistakes without exception or excuse”.Blair has said the report cleared him of allegations of lies or deceit. He said he would take “full responsibility for any mistakes without exception or excuse”.