After seven years to complete the inquiry and publish its findings, the Chilcot report on Britain and the 2003 Iraq War is devastating. There are two reasons for this. On the one hand, Iraq itself has become a powerful symbol of a post-invasion failed state and humanitarian disaster, the epicenter of a widening circle of destabilization in the Middle East whose ripples are being felt in acts of terrorism and out-of-control refugee flows even in Europe. On the other hand, Britain itself is consumed with a deeply divisive debate about its place in Europe and the world.
The report offers a compelling narrative of the need for accountability for grave international crimes. The consequences may have been unintended, but they were widely predicted. Those responsible should be held to account instead of hiding behind the lie that good intentions at the time trump unforeseeable consequences that followed.
There are three key takeaways.
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