Tim Hume
CNN

LONDON — (CNN) A long-awaited official inquiry delivered a devastating indictment of Britain’s decision to invade Iraq Wednesday, finding that the war was based on flawed intelligence and had been launched before diplomatic options were spent.

The findings of the 2.6 million-word Iraq Inquiry — widely known as the Chilcot report, for probe chairman John Chilcot — were released after Chilcot delivered a statement in London Wednesday.

He said that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein posed “no imminent threat” when the U.S-led invasion was launched in March 2003, and that while military action against him “might have been necessary at some point,” the “strategy of containment” could have continued for some time.

Chilcot said former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was warned of the risks of regional instability and the rise of terrorism before the invasion of Iraq, but pressed on regardless.

The UK failed to appreciate the complexity of governing Iraq, and did not devote enough forces to the task of securing the country in the wake of the invasion, he added.

“The people of Iraq have suffered greatly,” he said.

Blair’s decision to invade Iraq was influenced by his interest in protecting the UK’s relationship with the United States, Chilcot said. That relationship “does not require unconditional support where our interests and judgments differ,” he said.

While the legal basis for the war was “far from satisfactory,” the inquiry did not express a view on whether the invasion was legal, he said, arguing that that was a decision for another forum.

The inquiry was commissioned in June 2009 by Blair’s successor, Gordon Brown, following pressure from the public and parliament.

Charged with examining the build-up to the conflict, the war itself and its bloody aftermath — over a period from 2001 to 2009 — the inquiry was initially expected to take a year to complete.

Instead it has taken more than seven — longer than the war itself — with the final report running to 12 volumes.

Calls For Action Against Blair

There have been increasing calls for Blair to face action over his role in taking Britain into the deeply unpopular war, Britain’s most controversial foreign policy decision of the modern era.

In a sign of the still-lingering anger over the invasion, anti-war protesters gathered outside the London office building where the report was released.

In the face of the report’s fierce criticism, Blair said Wednesday he intended to respond more fully to the “serious criticisms” later in the day, but said he still believed “it was better” to topple Iraq’s former dictator.

“I will at the same time say why, nonetheless, I believe that it was better to remove Saddam Hussein and why I do not believe this is the cause of the terrorism we see today, whether in the Middle East or elsewhere in the world,” he said.

He said that the Chilcot report “should lay to rest allegations of bad faith, lies or deceit.”

“Whether people agree or disagree with my decision to take military action against Saddam Hussein; I took it in good faith and in what I believed to be the best interests of the country.”

He noted that the report had found that there had been “no falsification or improper use of intelligence,” “no deception of Cabinet,” and “no secret commitment” between Blair and then-U.S. President George Bush to go to war.

Veterans’ Families: Loved Ones Died in Vain

The families of some of the 179 British service personnel who lost their lives in the Iraq War said they felt their loved ones had died in vain, following the release of the report’s findings.

“When I look at Iraq on our TV screens today, the 200-plus deaths that took place the other day, I can only conclude that unfortunately and sadly, my son died in vain,” Reg Keys, whose son died serving in Iraq, said at a news conference.

Matthew Jury, a lawyer representing families who lost loved ones in the conflict, said his clients are “of course saddened that it appears to have been confirmed that their loved ones died unnecessarily and without just cause or purpose.”

Sarah O’Connor, whose brother was killed in the war, said she was angry that “11 and a half years of healing” had been undone.

“I’ve gone back to that time when I learned that my brother had been killed.” she said.

“And there is one terrorist in this world that the world needs to be aware of, and it’s Tony Blair — the world’s worst terrorist.”

The families would be examining the 2.6 million-word Chilcot report to see whether it forms the basis of any legal proceedings, they said.

Russia: I Told You So

Iraq’s leaders have said they see the inquiry as an internal British matter, as they face more pressing security concerns at home in the wake of a deadly ISIS-claimed truck bombing that killed more than 250 people in Baghdad last weekend.

Russia, which opposed the invasion of Iraq, responded through a tweet from its embassy in the UK.

“#Chilcot inquiry: No real WMD in Baghdad, unjust & highly dangerous war. The entire region on the receiving end,” it wrote, attaching a graphic reading “Keep calm but I told you so.”

Britain’s Parliament approved the war — ostensibly to remove Saddam Hussein and rid the country of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) — shortly before the invasion, although United Nations approval was not gained and millions marched in the streets in protest.

Hussein was removed and later executed. But the WMD threat was found to have been exaggerated and the promise to turn a dictatorship into a democracy was never delivered on.

Instead, the country descended into years of vicious sectarian conflict, with large swathes seized by the terror group ISIS.

More than 250,000 people have died violent deaths since the 2003 invasion, according to the Iraq Body Count project, while millions of Iraqis have been made homeless in the conflict with ISIS.

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