The Chilcott Report has now taken longer than The First World War - it must be published this year

The inquiry into Iraq was initially announced on July 15, 2009 by Gordon Brown, and hearings were finally concluded on February 2, 2011. It has still not published its findings.
The Iraq inquiry is not just about Tony Blair. It is about 100,000 dead Iraqis, the 179 dead British service personnel, the mutilation of a nation and the destabilisation of an entire region. And whatever Chilcot reports, neither Tony Blair’s supporters or enemies will be happy.

The real reason Chilcot must publish his report on Iraq is because the time has come to draw an official line under Iraq. Iraq is not just a stain on our history – it is a stain on our present.
The war of 2003 is no distant abstraction. As the Syria vote proved, it is the prism through which every British foreign policy decision is still viewed. It will continue to distort our vision until we finally deliver some sort of national closure.
There is only one way to have that closure. Which is to bring the truth about what happened in Iraq, and the official version of what happened in Iraq, into alignment.
The British people don’t need to learn again what happened in Iraq. What they need is the sight of an austere-looking man, in a rather dull suit, walking up to a lectern, holding aloft a large, imposing document, and announcing, “What happened in Iraq was wrong. In here it tells you why.”
Dan Hodges full report on this is here:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100270109/the-time-has-come-for-sir-john-chilcot-to-publish-and-be-damned/

Groundhog Day - Is the Chilcot Inquiry teaching us anything new?

One of the worlds favourite films is Groundhog Day. It amuses, mocks, and then ultimately celebrates small town America and simple values; but its lexicon has changed how we see repetitive days or events forever. Few films can claim such a time changing phrase.
Into this context one places the Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq.

Following on from the efforts of Lords Butler, Hutton and others before it, the Chilcot inquiry is not a trial; it has no lawyers to assist it - although it could really do with some forensic oomph. There is little that is new that has come out of the evidence of Goldsmith, Straw and Blair. Some, such as Campbell, have fared badly. But in truth the evidence is clear and everyone on the doorstep knows it: we went to war to get rid of a terrible man, but did so in a dishonest way.

What strikes me as I knock on doors in the last few weeks has been the repeated reference by voters to the Iraq war and the way Blair deceived parliament. This has been most prevalent in some surprising places - West Wylam is natural Labour territory,yet they were scathing about the former Prime Minister. Yet I do not believe that Chilcot will necessarily change that much.
On this issue I found once more and post here Matthew Parris brilliant piece on Chilcot in the Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article6990391.ece