Inquiry: ‘Flawed Intelligence’ Led U.K. Into Iraq

British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote to President George Bush nine months before the invasion of Iraq “with an assurance that he would be with him, whatever,” a long-awaited official government inquiry into the invasion has found. The finding is grabbing early headlines in reporting of the Chilcot Report, published today, which documents the entire history of Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War, including the run-up to the invasion. Sir John Chilcot gave a press conference starting at 11 a.m. local time (6 a.m. ET), in which he delivered the main points of the report, saying, “We have concluded that the U.K. chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort.” Chilcot said the decisions on military action were made on “flawed intelligence and assessments” that were “not challenged and should have been.” The inquiry has taken seven years and the final report runs to 12 volumes and 2.6 million words. Blair is expected to hold a press conference later Wednesday.