PEACE campaigners have demanded an immediate full inquiry into the war against Iraq as Britain ended its military operations in the war-torn country.
A ceremony was held in Basra to mark the official end of the six-year British military presence in Iraq. British combat operations ended as 20th Armoured Brigade took part in a flag-lowering ceremony with a US brigade.
In London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown claimed that a new chapter in relations between the two countries had begun.
After talks in Downing Street with Iraqi counterpart Nouri al-Maliki, Mr Brown said: “Today, we are taking steps to strengthen and deepen our relationship and to make it a long-term partnership of equals.
“Iraq is a success story. We owe much of that to the efforts of British troops. Our mission has not always been an easy one - many have said that we would fail. Britain can be proud of our legacy that we leave there.”
However, the Stop the War Coalition pointed out that the British occupation of southern Iraq had ended in “unmitigated disaster.”
A spokesman said: “The British soldiers will leave Basra in a much worse condition than they found it, its population depleted and demoralised, its infrastructure devastated.
“The failure to develop any kind of civil society or even to train up Iraqi forces is underlined by the fact the British are handing over to the US, not to Iraqis.”
He added: “Every death of a British serviceman or woman in this war has been a tragedy, made more acute by the pointlessness of the operation.
“But as the occupation finally comes to a close, it would be appropriate for the politicians who dragged Britain into war also to pay respect to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been killed by the US, Britain and their other allies. This withdrawal is most of all a response to domestic public opinion.
“The Stop the War Coalition will be intensifying its campaign to bring the troops out of Afghanistan, an occupation which is fast becoming another British foreign policy disaster.”
CND chairwoman Kate Hudson added: “The illegality of the war on Iraq and the crimes committed there cannot be swept under the carpet. Six years does not erase the guilt of those responsible for breaking international law and bringing about the deaths of countless thousands of innocent civilians and 179 British troops.
“This will be a running sore not only in British politics but in international relations until the truth comes out and those guilty are put on trial in an international tribunal.
“We demand the immediate start of a comprehensive, open and credible inquiry into all factors leading up to and during the invasion and occupation of a country that posed no threat to the UK and which, even now, is years from recovering from the damage that our country’s actions inflicted.”
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