Carne Ross, a former British diplomat and founder of Independent Diplomat, the world's first private diplomatic organization, testified before the Chilcot Inquiry in London on July 12th. He emphasized that the UK government's assessments about the threat from Iraq were "intentionally and substantially exaggerated" for the public, to the point that the statements made were "essentially lies". He also stated that the UK government did not consider, let alone pursue non-violent alternatives prior to the Iraq invasion in 2003 in contravention of just war theory and international law. Ross called for measures to ensure greater accountability of individuals in government and made it clear that a "learning process" like the Chilcot inquiry did not provide for any kind of legal accountability.
Click here to access Ross's full statement here
