Chilcot: The Ghost Of Robin Cook Stalks The Corridors Of Power Tonight

Sir John Chilcot's report into the Iraq War was published today, strongly vindicating the anti-war campaign that fought to stop the war being executed with British support. Most strongly of all it brings to mind the powerful resignation speech made by the late Robin Cook, on the eve of Parliament's decision to back the Prime Minister's resolution to enter the war.

Cook was eloquent and accurate in his assessment of the validity of the war and its long term consequences. History bears witness to his perspacity, the report was not needed for that.

What Chilcot does is damn Tony Blair, as a liar, as a Prime Minister who deceived Parliament and who substituted spin for truth in order to carry Britain into a war whose consequences play out today, tomorrow and into the foreseeable future.

Tony Blair claims that he was not guilty of war-mongering, of treating the safety of British troops and the Iraqi people with reckless abandon, of war crimes. This is a claim that must be tested in a court of law, where truth and justice can have their day.

The ghosts of Robin Cook, British servicemen and innocent Iraqi civilians demand nothing less.