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Blair must still be held to account for Iraq

September 25, 2016 at 5:28 pm

A major row is escalating in Britain over whether individual soldiers should be dragged through the courts and held to account for alleged war crimes carried out in Iraq and Afghanistan. Leading the debate is the failed former Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair, who is running to the defence of British soldiers by insisting that they should not be put through the courts. The former prime minister, who has been condemned roundly for committing Britain to a war in Iraq eight months before receiving parliamentary and legal backing, has condemned the actions of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat) which was set up to probe allegations laid against the military.

Cynics might say that Blair is simply trying to save his own skin and can only do that by killing off any investigations by Ihat in case its findings come back to haunt him. This is an important point, as there are still calls for the former PM himself to be investigated for war crimes. He has already been excoriated in Sir John Chilcot’s blistering report on the Iraq invasion which, after seven years of investigations, held Blair responsible for misleading the country over his intentions to send British troops into a war alongside their American allies. Britain’s political, military and intelligence establishments were all heavily implicated for misjudgements and occasional ineptitude by Chilcot; his most stinging criticism, though, was reserved for Blair.

However, to date, no senior officers, commanders or politicians have been held directly accountable in a court of law for the disastrous Iraq and Afghan wars. Professor Noam Chomsky said of the post-9/11 world: “For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.” How prescient his words look today.

Either Britain believes in upholding international law or it doesn’t, it is as simple as that. After World War II the Nuremberg principles were established and war crimes were outlined in great detail under international law. In case there was any doubt, in 1949 the Geneva Conventions were introduced, giving nation states universal jurisdiction over war crimes. Since then, several international courts have been created and additional categories of war crimes have been introduced. Unless British politicians stand by such principles the moral high ground will collapse beneath their feet and Britain will be just another morally bankrupt country, devoid of respect for basic human rights and standards. Some would argue that we have already reached that stage, citing British support for countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and, of course, Israel.

Whether taxpayer’s money is squandered or not remains to be seen, but all accusations against British soldiers must be thoroughly investigated if Britain is to abide by the international laws and conventions that we insist should be upheld by other states.

“Our armed forces gave extraordinary service in both Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Blair this weekend, “and this type of investigation simply makes their job harder to do.” He may be right, but there is a growing body of opinion that any war crimes investigations make Blair feel uncomfortable as he has yet to be held to account in a court of law for the decisions he alone took over the invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

At a meeting with defence chiefs last week, Prime Minister Theresa May said that “every effort” would be made to stop the legal system being abused and thus protect British soldiers from “vexatious” allegations. She knows the uncomfortable truth though: if justice is not seen to be done in Britain then trials will eventually be heard by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

According to Iraq Body Count, more than 250,000 people were killed in a war brought about by former US President George W Bush and his chief ally Blair; some say the real total is much higher and accounts for more than a million widows in Iraq. The country is still in turmoil; hundreds and thousands are still displaced; and the war has created conditions where groups like Daesh have been able to flourish.

While ordinary squaddies may have carried out war crimes for which they should be held accountable, justice will only really be done when the likes of Bush and Blair are put before the courts to answer for their own actions. Millions of innocent Iraqis are living in fear and chaos today as a result of decisions made by these two men; they need justice just as much as any individual who was tortured or beaten by rogue British and American soldiers.

Ref Iraq Body Count: https://www.iraqbodycount.org/

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.