The Iraq High

Dr Hans Blix, former UN weapons inspector, has told the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war that the US and UK didn't feel that they needed "a permission slip" from the security council:

"The US in 2002...I think they were high on military at the time. They said 'we can do it'

They thought they could get away with it so they decided to do it."

The lesson here is don't start wars when "high".

The Illegal War

Hans Blix, former UN weapons inspector, waded into the row about the legality of the Iraq war by saying that Prime Minister Tony Blair and his government "exercised spin" in exaggerating the case for the war in Iraq.

He went on to describe the conflict as "clearly illegal".

He said that pre-war intelligence, eg the UK government dossier which claimed Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and could deploy some within 45 minutes, appeared to have deliberately overstated the case for war.

Mr Blix said that he believed that the occupation of Iraq, overall, had been a complete failure.

"I think everything in Iraq after the invasion has been a tragedy. The only positive thing, I think, is the disappearance of Saddam Hussein."

Let us trust that the leaders who took us into this failed occupation leave office soon.