Chilcot Report: The Report of the Iraq Inquiry: Executive Summary

An easy to read paperback book of the Chilcot Report into the Iraq war. All 60,000 words of the executive summary. With not a word changed, so you can make up your own mind. An unofficial copy of Sir John Chilcot's official inquiry report, published under the Open Government licence.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Pre-conflict strategy and planning The UK decision to support US military action UK policy before 9/11 The impact of 9/11 Decision to take the UN route Negotiation of resolution 1441 The prospect of military action The gap between the Permanent Members of the Security Council widens The end of the UN route Why Iraq? Why now? Was Iraq a serious or imminent threat? The predicted increase in the threat to the UK as a result of military action in Iraq The UK's relationship with the US Decision-making Collective responsibility Advice on the legal basis for military action The timing of Lord Goldsmith's advice on the interpretation of resolution 1441 Lord Goldsmith's advice of 7 March 2003 Lord Goldsmith's arrival at a "better view" The exchange of letters on 14 and 15 March 2003 Lord Goldsmith's Written Answer of 17 March 2003 Cabinet, 17 March 2003 Weapons of mass destruction Iraq WMD assessments, pre-July 2002 Iraq WMD assessments, July to September 2002 Iraq WMD assessments, October 2002 to March 2003 The search for WMD Planning for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq The failure to plan or prepare for known risks The planning process and decision-making The post-conflict period Occupation Looting in Basra Looting in Baghdad UK influence on post-invasion strategy: resolution 1483 UK influence on the Coalition Provisional Authority A decline in security The turning point Transition UK influence on US strategy post-CPA Planning for withdrawal The impact of Afghanistan Iraqiisation Preparation for withdrawal A major divergence in strategy A possible civil war Force Level Review The beginning of the end Did the UK achieve its objectives in Iraq? Key findings Development of UK strategy and options, 9/11 to early January 2002 Development of UK strategy and options, January to April 2002 - "axis of evil" to Crawford Development of UK strategy and options, April to July 2002 Development of UK strategy and options, late July to 14 September 2002 Development of UK strategy and options, September to November 2002 - the negotiation of resolution 1441 Development of UK strategy and options, November 2002 to January 2003Development of UK strategy and options, 1 February to 7 March 2003Iraq WMD assessments, pre-July 2002 Iraq WMD assessments, July to September 2002 Iraq WMD assessments, October 2002 to March 2003 The search for WMD Advice on the legal basis for military action, November 2002 to March 2003 Development of the military options for an invasion of Iraq Military planning for the invasion, January to March 2003 Military equipment (pre-conflict) Planning for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq The invasion The post-conflict period Reconstruction De-Ba'athification Security Sector Reform Resources Military equipment (post-conflict) Civilian personnel Service Personnel Civilian casualties Lessons The decision to go to war Weapons of mass destruction The invasion of Iraq The post-conflict period Reconstruction De-Ba'athification Security Sector Reform Resources Military equipment (post-conflict)Civilian personnel Timeline of events

About the Author :
Sir John Chilcot, GCB PC (born 22 April 1939) is a British Privy Counsellor and former civil servant. His appointment as chairman of the Iraq Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath was announced in June 2009.He was educated at Brighton College and Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he read English and languages. A career civil servant until his retirement in 1997, he served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office, Deputy Under-Secretary at the Home Office in charge of the Police Department, and a variety of posts in the Home Office, the Civil Service Department and the Cabinet Office, including Private Secretary appointments to Home Secretaries Roy Jenkins, Merlyn Rees, and William Whitelaw, and to the Head of the Civil Service, William Armstrong.He is now president of Britain's independent policing think tank, The Police Foundation.His honours include CB (1990), KCB (1994), and GCB (1998). He became a Privy Counsellor in 2004, and was a member of the Butler Review of the use of intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He acted as "staff counsellor" to MI5 and MI6 from 1999 to 2004, "dealing with private and personal complaints from members of the intelligence services about their work and conditions".(Sir John Chilcot's Wikipedia)

Review :
'Offers a long and painful account of an episode that may come to be seen as marking the moment when the UK fell off its global perch, trust in government collapsed and the country turned inward and began to disintegrate' Philippe Sands, London Review of Books