Chilcot inquiry summary: Key quotes from the Iraq report

The war in Iraq was based on "flawed intelligence" and was launched "before peaceful options had been exhausted", while plans for reconstructing the nation after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein were "wholly inadequate".

These are some of Sir John Chilcot's conclusions after his inquiry into the 2003 invasion of Iraq - a report finally released this morning after seven years in the making.

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Comprising 2.6 million words divided into 12 volumes, the final report is twice the length of Marcel Proust's tome In Search of Lost Time and is expected to make headline news around the world, particularly in the Middle East.

The US-led coalition's invasion of Iraq is recognised to have been a major contributing factor to the destabilisation of the region and the rise of insurgent groups to fill the subsequent power vacuum, including Islamic State.

Terrorism, corruption and sectarian violence means the Iraqi people "have not had a proper day of peace since the old regime fell" notes the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen.

We have one thousand Saddams now," one Iraqi told Bowen. "It wasn't like this under Saddam. There was a system. There were ways. We didn't like him, but he was better than those people."

Anti-war protesters gathered outside the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London as Chilcot gave an overview of the long-awaited report.

Here are the key takeaways from his summary:

On justification for war

"We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort."

"The circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for UK military action were far from satisfactory."

"Military action in Iraq might have been necessary at some point but in March 2003, there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein."

On weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)

"The judgements about the severity of the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction - WMD - were presented with a certainty that was not justified."

"The Joint Intelligence Committee should have made clear to Mr [Tony] Blair that the assessed intelligence had not established 'beyond doubt' either that Iraq had continued to produce chemical and biological weapons or that efforts to develop nuclear weapons continued."

"It is now clear that policy on Iraq was made on the basis of flawed intelligence and assessments. They were not challenged and they should have been."

Post-invasion

"Despite explicit warnings, the consequences of the invasion were underestimated. The planning and preparations for Iraq after Saddam Hussein were wholly inadequate."

"The scale of the UK effort in post-conflict Iraq never matched the scale of the challenge. Whitehall departments and their ministers failed to put collective weight behind the task."

"Ministers were aware of the inadequacy of US plans and concerned about the inability to exert significant influence on US planning… The failures in the planning and preparations continued to have an effect after the invasion."

Tony Blair

"Mr Blair had been warned… that military action would increase the threat from Al Qaeda to the UK and to UK interests. He had also been warned that an invasion might lead to Iraq's weapons and capabilities being transferred into the hands of terrorists."

"Mr Blair told the inquiry that the difficulties encountered in Iraq after the invasion could not have been known in advance. We do not agree that hindsight is required. The risks of internal strife in Iraq, active Iranian pursuit of its interests, regional instability and Al Qaeda activity in Iraq were each explicitly identified before the invasion."

Despite their former leader's part in appalling human rights violations, including the execution of hundreds of thousands of his own people, many Iraqis are openly nostalgic for the era of Saddam Hussein.

http://www.theweek.co.uk/chilcot-inquiry/63414/chilcot-inquiry-will-not-shy-away-from-criticisms