SNP AND PLAID CYMRU MARK FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF IRAQ WAR

 

Angus MP Mike Weir joined fellow SNP and Plaid Cymru Members of Parliament today to mark the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war by unveiling a stark poster outside the House of Commons highlighting the toll of the conflict.

 

SNP Westminster leader, Angus Robertson MP, also renewed calls for a full inquiry into the legality of the war and the circumstances that led the UK into the conflict.

 

Commenting on the move Mr Weir said

 

“It has been five years since the invasion of Iraq, when Tony Blair dragged us into an illegal war on the basis of false information.

 

“By every measurement this has been the biggest foreign policy disaster in modern times, and those responsible for it have never answered the most fundamental questions about why we were led into this war.

 

“The claim that the war was about weapons of mass destruction was a blatant lie, a mere cover story unsupported by the facts, which has cost the lives of thousands of civilians and hundreds of our brave soldiers.

”The Iraq war was a diversion from the campaign against international terrorism, and has certainly increased the terrorist threat to our country – as the Government were warned by the former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.

 

“ I represent the troops of 45 Commando and their families. They and our other  military forces  have done us proud, and it is no wonder that a poll just this week showed that our troops themselves are much more popular than the wars they are fighting.

 

“However, the Government that put our troops in the face of danger must not be above question, and today, the families of those who have paid with their lives, those people who protested, and all of us who are paying for it, still demand and deserve answers.”