Iraq Inquiry Blog

At the Iraq war inquiry led by Sir John Chilcot, two Whitehall witnesses “look drained” as they recall the debate over weapons of mass destruction (WMD), writes Channel 4 News Iraq Inquiry Blogger.

Day two of the Iraq War Inquiry led by Sir John Chilcot will focus on weapons of mass destruction and how the US/UK coalition shifted from “containment” policies to regime change, writes the Channel 4 News Iraq Inquiry Blogger.

The first day of the Iraq inquiry was characterised by the emergence of a potential “attack dog” in the shape of Sir Roderic Lyne and the appearance of some almost incomprehensible live transcripts.

Lunch break at the inquiry and the Fourth Estate gather to discuss what “The Story” currently looks like being. Several journalists say they’re going with the internal Foreign Office “options paper” that Sir William Patey mentioned this morning. Although the former head of the Middle East department made clear that regime change was just one…

Here in the press room next door to the inquiry chamber – hacks aren’t allowed to take electronic equipment inside, so must of us are camped out in front of plasma screens showing the proceedings – there’s a somewhat peculiar atmosphere. The Q&A thus far has been perfectly friendly, clubbable even, and here, now, today…

Some quick background on how the inquiry’s going to operate. The five-strong committee led by Sir John Chilcot was appointed by the Prime Minister this summer after the announcement that British military operations in Iraq had effectively ended finished. Despite being selected by the government, Sir John has vowed that the committee will be fair,…

For a war that seared onto our TV screens via the US military doctrine of “shock and awe” the UK’s official inquiry into the Iraq conflict just started with a distinctly English sang froid. First things first – another inquiry? You could be forgiven a tinge of déjà vu, but the two best-known investigations that…

Channel 4 News will be blogging the Iraq Inquiry, the unprecedented investigation into how the UK became involved in the Iraq conflict, how the war was fought and what befell the people of Iraq afterwards.