Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a speech, he gave after Sir John Chilcot submitted his report after his seven-year inquiry, says that he accepts “full responsibility without exception and without excuse” for taking Britain into the Iraq War. He expressed “sorrow, regret and apology” and accepted “full responsibility without exception or excuse” for the consequences of the war.
Blair says, “the decision to go to war in Iraq and to remove Saddam Hussein from power in a coalition of over of over 40 countries, led by the united states of America, was the hardest, most momentous, most agonizing decision I took in my ten years as British Prime Minister.”
Blair said he had wanted to set the Iraqi people free and secure them from the “evil” of Saddam Hussein, but instead they had become victims of sectarian violence.
He says “For all of this, I express more sorrow, regret and apology than you can ever know or believe,” he said in a voice almost breaking with emotion.
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