Time for Chilcot to break his silence om Iraq and publish

SO Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee, has written to the Cabinet Office demanding an explanation as to why it is taking so long for the Chilcot report into the Iraq war to be published (The Yorkshire Post, May 17) . I fear that his demand will fall on deaf ears.

This was supposedly a “no holds barred” investigation, but has turned out to be something that will be kicked around for as long as possible in the hope that people will forget all about it.

In an article printed in The Yorkshire Post in November 2009, Richard Heller – a former adviser to Denis Healey – clearly stated the 10 questions that Blair had to answer. While I agreed with what he said, I still maintain that other members of the UK’s political “crazy gang”, including Gordon Brown who agreed to fund the war, and his Cabinet colleagues who allowed themselves to be dragged along by Tony Blair’s much-vaunted “charisma”, have also to be held to account.

Your Editorial (The Yorkshire Post, May 17) ably sums up the reasons why we should have the report now. No more waiting for Blair and his pals to cover their tracks using, I suspect, batteries of lawyers combing through the unpublished report. No more waiting in case the result embarrasses the Labour Party (it has enough to be embarrassed about already). The national interest should trump party political considerations. So there it is, Sir John Chilcot, do what you were asked to do and “publish and be damned”.

From: Trev Bromby, Sculcoates Lane, Hull.

ONCE upon a time, a long, long time ago, in a land not far away, many inquiries were set up to investigate the legality of the Bush/Blair invasion of Iraq, but each time a whitewash breathing dragon came along – whoosh! – Teflon Tony escaped and went on to amass a £100m fortune.

Up from the whitewash came a knight in shining armour, Sir Chilcot of Justice.

Alas, he disappeared into the annals of mythology. He was never heard of again. Some believe, as with the resurrection, Sir Chilcot will rise again.

Meanwhile, Teflon Tony continues, covered in protective whitewash, to add great riches to his war chest, while millions suffer for his actions.

Those who believe in the words of The Fourth Geneva Convention 1949 – “the killing of civilians and wilfully causing great suffering is a war crime” – will have to continue not living happily ever after, forlornly awaiting “the rising” of Sir Chilcot.