America Needs to Acknowledge War Crime in Iraq

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has apologized for mistakes made in the course of the attack on Iraq. Tony Blair said that the attack on Iraq played a significant role in the formation of the Islamic State. In an interview on CNN, he claimed it cannot be said that those who removed Saddam Hussein in 2003 bear no responsibility for what is happening in 2015. The United Kingdom, he said, had already stated that it was with the U.S. But it is very difficult to apologize for removing Saddam Hussein from power, the former prime minister continued, as Iraq would have become a second Syria if this step had not been taken.

The former prime minister should be aware that the CIA has already affirmed that its report regarding Iraq’s possession of chemical weapons was erroneous; the subsequent U.S. operation also established that Iraq was not in possession of chemical weapons. The inference is that the attack on Iraq was a war crime perpetrated by the U.S. Now, Tony Blair also concedes that the attack on Iraq was a war crime. He expressed regret that the U.K. became a part of this war with President Bush and regretted that the intelligence information provided at the time was incorrect. Mistakes were made, he said, in the planning of the Iraq attack and in bringing down Saddam Hussein’s government there.

But there is no point in seeking forgiveness now for the mistakes made by Bush and Tony Blair that caused hundreds of thousands of homes to be destroyed, countless families to be torn apart, thousands of women to be deprived of support, and children to be orphaned. History is witness that at the time, the U.K. was following the U.S. like a blind ally. Perhaps Tony Blair’s ability to think and reason had been disabled; President Bush was making all the decisions, and Britain seemed less concerned about the seriousness of negative effects that could arise from the implementation of some of those decisions.

Now, after the passage of more than a decade, Tony Blair’s apology cannot wipe away the pain of innocent and blameless people. If the Iraq war was a war crime, then the demands of justice cannot be met until punishment is accorded to the perpetrators of this crime. Former President Bush also needs to acknowledge his crime of getting a resolution passed by the United Nations against Iraq on the basis of invalid proclamations from the CIA about the presence of chemical weapons and then proceeding to attack that country. When chemical weapons were not found, the assertion was made that the purpose of the action was to free the Iraqis of Saddam’s dictatorship.

To date, no principle has been established by the U.N. that America — or any country — has the authority to carry out actions for eliminating dictatorship within another country. In the case of Iraq, however, the U.S. committed acts of bullying and rigging. Like the U.K., the U.S. also should make a confession of its crime.