The 2003 invasion of Iraq is a conflict that still leaves a scar on the nation 20 years on from when the first shots were fired.
The case for war was never convincingly made at the time and it has looked worse with each passing year. We tell the stories today of three Scots mums who lost sons in the conflict.
Christine Morgan, Margaret Valentine and Rose Gentle continue to grieve for their sons who were lost in the conflict, which began on March 20, 2003. They say they do not forgive Tony Blair for sending their sons to war on the flimsiest pretext – and neither should they.
It’s their firm belief that the then prime minister went to war on fake intelligence and without significant public support for the conflict. Many Scots will agree with them.
The three women speak movingly about their grief that has never left them in two decades. They were right to speak out about the Iraq war and its devastating consequences.
In that time, it’s become widely accepted that the UK should never have signed up to George W Bush’s reckless invasion plan. Blair’s decision to throw his lot behind the Bush Administration was a mistake that will forever tarnish his reputation.
Military families across the UK were left bereaved as a result. Countless Iraqi civilians were killed.
Iraq has slowly rebuilt but its people have endured years of civil war and social unrest. On the 20th anniversary of the conflict, those whose lives were lost there should not be forgotten.
But neither should we forget those who led us into a war on false pretences.
Power struggle
In the wake of the Iraq War, the Labour Party began a dramatic slide from power in Scotland. There were many reasons for the decline of a party which had dominated Scottish politics for generations.
But many blamed the party for its role in taking us into a war which commanded little support in the country.
What that tells us is that political parties can quickly lose trust among voters. Nobody would compare the tragedy of Labour’s role in the Iraq war to the current travails facing the dominant force in Scottish politics, the SNP.
But those currently involved in the unseemly scrap to become Nationalist leader should take heed. Parties that are divided, rudderless and out-of-touch often find themselves being punished by the electorate.
That is as true today as it was in 2003.
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