With the Chilcot report, the fate of wasted lives should preoccupy us

London

WEDNESDAY saw the publication, years overdue, of the official report into Britain's conduct of the 2003 Iraq war. The inquiry, led by a former senior civil servant, John Chilcot, reviewed thousands of documents and interviewed more than 100 witnesses, and the final report runs to more than two million words.

Its findings are clear. The British government, led by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, exaggerated the case for war and decided on military action when it had not exhausted the alternatives. (As a former British diplomat and specialist on Iraq at the United Nations, I was one of those who testified to precisely this at the Chilcot inquiry.) The government also failed to prepare for the invasion and mismanaged the occupation of Iraq.