
We know that Iraq was wrong ? and it?s in the national interest to turn the last bloodied page
It was revealed at the weekend that David Cameron?s patience with Sir John Chilcot has finally run out.
According to reports, the Prime Minister has asked Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary, to ensure that the inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the invasion of Iraq publishes its findings before the end of the year.
In the words of a Downing Street spokesman: ?The PM believes there is no excuse for any further lengthy delay in publishing Chilcot.?
The PM is right. The demand for Chilcot to publish his report can hardly be described as precipitous. It has now taken longer to investigate the Iraq war than it took to fight the First World War.
The inquiry was initially announced on July 15, 2009, and hearings were finally concluded on February 2, 2011.
Since then, it has published an ?update on progress? in July 2012, a further update in July of last year, and one more in November.
In 2012, Sir John Chilcot informed the Prime Minister that the so-called ?Maxwellisation process? ? whereby the various witnesses who faced criticism in the report would be furnished with an opportunity to respond ? would begin ?by the middle of next year?.
Last July, he said the process would begin in October. Then, in November, he said the process had again been delayed, and he did not know when it would commence.
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http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100270109/the-time-has-come-for-sir-john-chilcot-to-publish-and-be-damned/


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