The mother of a Suffolk soldier who died serving in Iraq said Tony Blair should face prosecution after a damning report yesterday delivered a scathing assessment of the justifications for going to war.
Elsie Manning, whose daughter Sharron Elliott was killed in a patrol boat near Basra, said the former prime minister “signed my daughter’s death warrant” and should be “hung, drawn and quartered”.
“I just feel so angry that he clearly knew this all along,” she added
“If this was anyone else they’d have been locked up before their feet could touch the ground.”
Sir John Chilcot’s long-awaited Iraq inquiry yesterday gave a brutal critique of Mr Blair’s handling of the 2003 war and the legacy it created.
In terms far sterner than many had expected, he said policy was made “on the basis of flawed intelligence and assessments” and the legal justification was “far from satisfactory”.
Mr Blair responded by expressing “sorrow, regret and apology”, though he continued to defend the strategy.
Staff Sergeant Elliott, who grew up in Hadleigh, was one of four service personnel killed on Remembrance Sunday 2006, when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated on a bridge as they passed beneath. An inquest found vital bomb-jamming technology had been missing from their boat and the bridge had not been properly searched before their patrol.
The Chilcot report found military risks were “neither properly identified nor fully exposed to ministers” and the Ministry of Defence was “slow responding to the threat of IEDs”.
Mrs Manning, 72, said she had always known her daughter and fellow soldiers had been let down by the Government but had little faith the full truth would ever come out.
After yesterday’s report offered a stronger verdict than expected, she felt “macarbrely elated”.
“We’ve finally got the truth,” she added.
“It’s not been a whitewash, as we feared.
“It’s something we knew all along but that they kept on denying.
“Now they can’t deny it because it’s all there in black and white.”
St Sgt Elliott had only been serving in Iraq for a week when she was killed on the Shatt Al-Arab waterway.
The 34-year-old soldier, who joined the Army soon after finishing college in Ipswich, was praised by commanding officers for her dedication and professionalism as well as her infectious smile.
Mrs Manning said her daughter’s death had been “the most awful thing”, which left a “void” in the family. She said her four brothers “adored” her and were “incredibly proud”.
“There’s always going to be that missing place at the Christmas table,” she added.
Following yesterday’s revelations, Mrs Manning said she would meet with relatives of the 179 servicemen and women who died during the Iraq war to plan their next step.
She said many were now furious with the Government for “telling lie after lie after lie” and would be seeking justice.
“Blair has got an awful lot to answer for,” she added.
“This was all agreed before; he already had it in his head to do all of this, regardless of whatever people said.”
But her criticism is not directed solely at the former prime minister, highlighting the behaviour of other politicians “who would rather argue than sort things out”.
“They are sitting in the House of Commons, pointing the blame, but our kids can’t have their say,” she added.
“It just beggars belief, their attitude stinks.
“There are troops now who are homeless, who cannot cope; they are committing suicide because they cannot get the support they need and these politicians are standing around arguing the toss.
“Why can’t they just get their heads together and do something now for our troops.”
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