Tony Blair: Mother of dead soldier slams knighthood

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Iraqis who grew up in the shadow of the war are outraged at the British Government’s decision to award a knighthood to former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair.

They are not alone in their fury as a petition calling for the former Labour leader to have the honour withdrawn is edging closer to a million signatures, with 934,529 at the time of writing. The petition denounces Sir Tony the “least deserving person of any public honour” and calls for him to be held accountable for “war crimes”. 

The ex-Labour Party leader may have won more elections than any other Labour leader and been a force for good over national minimum wage and gay rights. But his support for George Bush’s 2003 invasion tarnished his legacy and made him synonymous with the thousands of lives lost as a result of the war.

Ali Jaddoa — from the ancient city of Babylon, which was used as a military base — told Express.co.uk he heard the news a couple of minutes before the New Year, which ruined celebrations with his friends.

Mr Jaddoa says he can’t get his head around it. He said: “Honouring a war criminal who ran a war based on false information sends a message that you could be a hero even though one day you were a criminal.”

Many argue that the power vacuum and subsequent chaos of invasion allowed one of the most brutal terrorist groups, ISIS, to rise. In 2014, the group captured huge areas of land in Iraq and Syria and in the years that followed they carried out attacks across the globe.

And Ali Salah — who fled northern Iraq when ISIS overran his region, remembers when F16 fighter aircraft’s descended on his country — agrees. He told Express.co.uk: “Congratulations the UK, the USA: you made Daesh! Because you dropped bombs all over here. And you took out the army in Iraq. You left a land ready for the rise of Daesh.”

The 2.6 million word report of Sir John Chilcott’s seven-year inquiry ruled that Sir Tony’s decision to invade was taken “before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted.” Sir John declared the war needless and Sir Tony has since won the moniker “war architect.”

Sir John declared the war needless and Sir Tony has since won the moniker “war architect.”

Mr Salah says Sir Tony is “personally responsible” for causing the death of “countless innocent, civilian lives and servicemen, not mentioning the war consequences of destroyed infrastructures, health and education systems.”

The ostensible reason for the invasion of Iraq was the failure to find weapons of mass destruction. Sir Tony had unjustified certainty that Saddam Hussein possessed them when intelligence reports had not established “beyond doubt” that they existed.

The consequences of the invasion and subsequent occupation resulted in hundreds of thousands of forfeited lives, as well as continued instability and mayhem in the country.

The actions of British forces have come under fire from the International Criminal Court with claims of “willful killings” and “credible allegations of torture and rape”. Sir Tony once said he “can’t regret” the decision to back the war in Iraq.

Millions of Iraqi citizens’ lives have been shredded and their lifelong sorrow can never be fixed. A country once shrouded in ancient biblical heritage is now all but destroyed.

Mr Salah said there was optimism when UK and US soldiers first arrived, he said they [soldiers] were welcomed and there was hope that they would bring a new life.

He said: “We believed it would be worth it to see a new regime. But it never changed. In truth, before, in some ways, it was actually better. That is very difficult for me to admit.”

On Tuesday, Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, said that the former prime minister “deserves” to be knighted. He told ITV News: “I don’t think it’s a thorny issue at all for me. He won three elections, he was a very successful prime minister.”

Despite this, 56 percent of Labour Party voters disapprove. Representatives for Sir Tony were approached for comment.

With thanks to The Refugee Media Centre.

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