BAGHDAD, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi people demand apologies from the U.S. and Britain for their war crimes against the country, as the 2003 invasion has left hundreds of thousands of civilians killed and millions displaced, experts said Saturday.
新华社巴格达７月１０日电随笔：美国和英国欠伊拉克人民一个说法
新华社记者刘万利
英国的伊拉克战争调查委员会日前发布报告，认定前首相托尼·布莱尔及其领导的工党政府盲目追随美国，依据“有瑕疵”的情报出兵伊拉克，且未对战争可能带来的严重后果进行评估并作好应对准备。
A long-awaited report by Sir John Chilcot was released on Wednesday, which revealed that the invasion led by the U.S. and Britain was planned on flawed intelligence and lack of adequate preparation for the post-war governance.
In response to the highly critical report, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he felt "deeply and sincerely the grief and suffering of those who lost ones they loved in Iraq," referring to 179 British personnel killed in the war, and will "take full responsibility for any mistakes without exception or excuse."
"He expressed his apology to Britain, its military and people, but what about the victims of the Iraqi people?" Sabah al-Sheikh, an expert on politics based in Baghdad, told Xinhua.
"There is no clear apology by Blair or any American official to the Iraqi victims as hundreds of thousands of innocent people were killed and millions displaced both inside and outside the country," he added.
The country has seen deepening ethnic and sectarian divisions, broken health and education facilities, displacement and indiscriminate killings, and massive bomb attacks against civilians during the past 13 years.
对此，伊拉克政治分析人士萨巴赫在接受新华社记者采访时说：“这份报告得出的结论所有伊拉克人在２００３年就知道了，那就是入侵伊拉克不合法。这场战争造成了数十万无辜平民死亡，也使得中东甚至整个世界处于更加危险的境地。”
据伊拉克非政府机构统计，自２００３年至今，数十万至近百万平民在战争和暴力冲突中死亡。联合国难民署的统计数字显示，约３４０万伊拉克人在国内背井离乡，超过２００万伊拉克人流落到其他国家沦为难民。
“（时任美国总统）布什曾说过要从萨达姆的‘魔爪’中解放伊拉克人民，但事实是怎么样呢？我们看到美国和英国把所有伊拉克人民当作攻击的目标，”萨巴赫说。
LIES AND STRATEGIC FAILURE
Britain followed the U.S. to invade Iraq in March 2003 on two allegations: first, the war on former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was a reaction to the 9/11 attack as Saddam had relations with the al-Qaida; second, Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which could threat the Middle East and the whole world as well.
However, the seven-year inquiry by the British team and similar investigations conducted by U.S. experts after 2003 concluded that there was no evidence of Saddam possessing any WMD.
Former U.S. President George Bush and Blair admitted the fact, blaming "intelligence failure." However, Chilcot's report revealed that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had reported to the UN. Security Council "there was no indication that Iraq had resumed its nuclear activities."
However, the U.S. and British authorities refused to recognize the IAEA report. Blair said in his speech on March 18, 2003, one day before the invasion, "We are asked now seriously to accept that in the last few years - contrary to all history, contrary to all intelligence - Saddam decided unilaterally to destroy those weapons. I say that such a claim is palpably absurd."
The report also cited several assessments of Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee, which said "there is no evidence Usama Bin Laden's organization has ever had a presence in Iraq" in 2011 and "there was no intelligence of current cooperation between Iraq and al-Qaida" in January 2003.
"Chilcot confirms what millions of us knew in 2003 that the war on Iraq was not a right decision. It was an unnecessary conflict, waged on the basis of flawed intelligence and with no sound legal basis," Sabah al-Sheikh said.
"The U.S.-led invasion on Iraq has cost hundreds of thousands of lives of innocent people, and made both the Middle East and the wider world less secure," Sheikh said, adding that the bloodshed in the country perhaps would continue for decades.
Bush also said he wanted to set the Iraqi people free and secure them from the "evil" of Saddam Hussein, "but is it true? We have seen that Iraq itself as a state was the target of the invasion," Sheikh said.
美国和英国当时决定发动伊拉克战争的原因主要为两点：时任伊拉克总统萨达姆·侯赛因生产大规模杀伤性武器，对其他国家带来巨大威胁；萨达姆支持参与“９·１１”袭击的“基地”组织。
但美方和英国调查委员会在２００３年后均未在伊拉克境内发现大规模杀伤性武器。对此，布莱尔以及时任美国总统布什将错误归咎于“情报失误”。英国情报机构在２００３年和２０１１年向布莱尔政府提交的两份文件明确表示，没有情报显示伊拉克政府和“基地”组织之间有合作，也没有任何证据证明“基地”组织在伊拉克有活动。
在打破伊拉克政治生态后，美国和英国战后的不负责任导致教派冲突持续至今，恐怖组织发展壮大，威胁全世界人民的安全。英国的伊拉克战争调查委员会主席奇尔科特说：“入侵伊拉克的后果被低估了，对后萨达姆时期的计划与准备严重不足。”
DEVASTATED CONSEQUENCES
"The invasion and subsequent instability in Iraq had, by July 2009, also resulted in the deaths of at least one hundred and fifty thousand Iraqis - and probably many more - most of them civilians. More than a million people were displaced. The people of Iraq have suffered greatly," Chilcot said after he published his report.
However, according to Iraqi government data, hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed in conflicts after the 2003 invasion, while unofficial tallies put the toll from military actions and sectarian strife at over one million.
The war also left some 3.4 million people displaced inside Iraq and more than two million outside a country with a population of over 34 million.
The invasion completely destroyed the system in Iraq, and the hasty withdrawal of U.S. and British forces created a power vacuum exploited by terrorist groups.
On July 3, three days before the British reported was released, the Islamic State (IS) group conducted a suicide bombing attack outside a shopping center in Baghdad, killing at least 292 people and wounding 200 others, the deadliest terrorist attack in Iraq since 2003.
There are some 40 organizations classified by the U.S. as terrorist groups, and more than half of them appeared after the U.S.-led invasion.
Compared with the al-Qaida, IS appeared to be more powerful and brutal, Sheikh said, adding that the terrorism of IS spilled over the whole region and the world and we are witnessing terrorist attacks in several European countries, Middle East and other areas across the world.
Chilcot said "despite explicit warnings, the consequences of the invasion were underestimated. The planning and preparations for Iraq after Saddam Hussein were wholly inadequate ... The government failed to achieve its stated objectives."
Najib al-Jubouri, an analyst on politics based in Baghdad, told Xinhua "there were no clear plans and preparations on how to oversee Iraq after the invasion, including the involvement of the United Nations, the control of Iraq's oil money, in addition to the mistake of dismantling of Saddam Hussein security apparatus and army."
"We only can hope that such report would let the world reconsider such decisions of invading any country, and have the bravery to admit mistakes," he said.
"The U.S. administration is demanded to apologize to Iraqi people on its policy toward the country, because the Americans are responsible more than the British for the tragedy of Iraqis," Sabah al-Sheikh said.
萨巴赫评论说：“美国总统奥巴马为了讨好选民，作出了跟英国相同的决定，不负责任地从伊拉克撤军，导致‘伊斯兰国’发展壮大，占据伊拉克大片领土。”
极端组织“伊斯兰国”目前仍控制着伊拉克大片领土，包括拥有百万人口的第二大城市摩苏尔，并时常在伊拉克发动恐怖袭击。７月３日，“伊斯兰国”在首都巴格达实施自杀式汽车炸弹袭击，造成２９２人死亡、２００人受伤。
伊拉克政治分析人士纳吉布·朱布里说：“美国和英国都没有对战后伊拉克如何治理提出明确的计划和准备。英国公布这份报告只是一次道德审判，不具有法律约束力。我们现在希望那些犯错的人能勇敢站出来承认错误。”
“我们要求美国政府为入侵行为给伊拉克人民一个说法，与英国相比，美国犯下的罪恶更加深重，”萨巴赫说。
(Note: The above is the same story reported in English and Chinese respectively, and is not literal translation.)
