A mum has blamed ex-UK Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair for the death of her 19-year-old son who was unlawfully killed in action during the Iraq war.
Speaking to the Mirror for the 20th anniversary of the invasion in Iraq, Rose Gentle has said the memories of her son, Fusilier Gordon Campbell Gentle, will never die but that Sir Tony is to blame for his death.
The gran-of-three from Scotland said: "Tony Blair murdered my son, he definitely killed my son. He is to blame, he is the one that sent them [troops] there, he is the one who jumped along with [US President] George Bush.
"He lied through the enquiry. I definitely blame him. I would love to look him straight in the eye and say you killed my son."
Sir Tony has faced years of criticism over the Iraq War, after he made the decision on the March 19, 2003, to line up British troops (with US forces) in an attack formation before, on the 20th, starting the most ferocious war in Iraq's history.
It was later found that the former Labour leader had overplayed evidence about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s weaponry — the precursor to war — and ignored peaceful means to send troops into the country.
The Iraq Inquiry report said that war was launched on the basis of "flawed" intelligence and that the UK “chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted”.
Fusilier Gentle, from Glasgow, had been in Iraq less than a month when he was killed, after finishing his 24 weeks of basic and operational training in May 2004.
His commanding officer, Colonel Paul Cartwright, said on the day of his death he had volunteered to be a "top cover" sentry on an armoured Snatch Land Rover.
On the way to Basra Palace, one of the unit's Land Rovers broke down. It was repaired after a short while and then the five-vehicle convoy continued on, heading towards the Kuwait border along a route nicknamed "IED [improvised explosive device] Alley" by some soldiers.
About 10 minutes later, a bomb was detonated on the roadside beside Fusilier Gentle's vehicle.
The force of the blast spun the Land Rover 180 degrees, striking him in the back. He was later pronounced dead in Basra general hospital.
After her son’s death, Mrs Gentle set up Military Families Against the War and the Justice 4 Gordon Gentle campaign.
She has made it her life's ambition to ensure no other young soldiers are killed in action and to support friends and relatives of those grieving.
"We need to remember that the Iraq war did happen. It should never be forgotten, we lost a lot of forces and a lot of Iraqis. A lot of people now have PTSD. As long as I am alive, I will never forget Iraq", she says.
In 2008, a coroner ruled that an army logistics failure meant that electronic jamming equipment which should have been fitted to Fusilier Gentle's vehicle would probably have prevented the explosion.
Two weeks before he died, equipment that could have stopped the bomb from going off arrived in Iraq.
But no one told the Royal Highland Fusilier officers. Hours after Gordon’s death, the devices were finally supplied to the company.
Mrs Gentle told the Mirror: "I blame our government for those failings of not having the right equipment or training."
Coroner Selena Lynch told the inquest: "He was unlawfully killed. It is probable that the device would not have been detonated if the escort had been equipped with an ECM [electronic countermeasure].”
Mrs Gentle said she does not hate anyone, apart from the former Prime Minister.
She told the Mirror: "The older veterans are still suffering as well. I will never ever forgive him, I hate looking at his face. I don't think I would accept an apology from that man it's too late. I couldn't even shake his hand."
Mrs Gentle fought a three-year battle to get her son’s blood-stained dog tags back after he died.
She previously told the Mirror: "I was shocked to find them covered in blood but I won’t wash it. It’s all I have left of Gordon."
Despite the bitter landmark date of 20 years, the grieving mother said it still feels like it has only been a matter of weeks since she lost her son.
"He was so young and had such a career ahead of him. I will never get over it and I always tell Gordon every night that I love him."
