Families of fallen UK and US soldiers express outrage as reasons behind Iraqi war ‘censored’

Families of veterans who fought in the Iraq war have reacted with anger to the news that full details of why the UK invaded Iraq may never be revealed.

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by Ellie Hooper |
Published on

As part of the Chilcot Inquiry into the UK's involvement in the conflict, details of the 'gist' of Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush's correspondence will be published.

But full transcripts of the conversations will remain a secret - at the request of the Cabinet Office.

'It will be an open wound until the day I die.'

Families of soldiers who lost their lives in the conflict, along with those who received life-changing injuries, are understandably devastated by this news, with many saying they feel betrayed by the decision.

Rose Gentle, who lost her son Gordon, 19, said she doesn't think she'll ever get the truth as to what her son was fighting for.

Dr Kelly, from a BBC news report

'As far as we are concerned Tony Blair is just walking away from this' she said.

Likewise Reg Keys, who lost his 21-year-old son Tom Keys in 2003, said: 'I need to draw a line under this and until I know the whole truth I can't. It will be an open wound until the day I die.'

179 UK servicemen died in the conflict, with many more injured.

Over the six year course of the campaign there were over 110,591 Iraqi Civillian deaths - killed primarily by U.S. air and ground forces.

Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay said: 'It is a bad, bad day for democracy and justice,' as it was confirmed the 25 letters between Mr Blair and Mr Bush would not be published, and nor would transcripts of 130 phone calls.

The correspondence between the two is essential for getting to the bottom of why the two countries invaded Iraq in 2003.

In the first instance, it was claimed the countries were looking for Weapon's of Mass Destruction when they invaded, but UN weapon's inspector Dr David Kelly revealed this reason was invalid - given that he had told the government there was no evidence of WMD's in the country prior to invasion.

David Kelly made the comment that he would 'probably be found dead in the woods' because of speaking out. Sure enough, in July 2003 Kelly was found dead in the woods. The official cause of death given was suicide, though a group of doctors launched a legal challenge of this verdict - claiming that he couldn't have died in the manner described.

Several of the doctors also said that emails and files relating to their case disappeared from their computers, and they suspected they had been hacked by the state. Their action was later dropped, with one of the doctor's saying he would not pursue it further for 'the sake of my children.'

Evidence surrounding Dr Kelly's death has been suppressed until 2073, it was revealed in 2011.

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