Bid to fund Iraq war legal action against Tony Blair launched
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Relatives of British soldiers killed in the Iraq War have launched an online fundraising appeal to take legal action against Tony Blair and others involved in the decision to commit troops to the Gulf invasion.
Members of the Iraq Families War Group are trying to raise £50,000 to "bring to justice those responsible for the war and the deaths of our loved ones".
The move comes weeks after Blair was roundly criticised in the findings of the Chilcot inquiry.
Former civil servant Sir John Chilcot said that Blair committed UK troops to an invasion of Iraq before peaceful options had been exhausted and that Saddam Hussein had posed "no imminent threat" at the time, as more damning then many had expected.
The Iraq Families War Group is led by Roger Bacon and Reg Keys, whose sons were among the 179 British service personnel who died in the conflict.
On the fundraising page on the crowdjustice.co.uk website, they said there had been speculation that Blair and others "can and should" be taken to court and "we, the families, wish to bring such legal proceedings against any state officials who might have acted unlawfully or in excess of their powers".
They stated: "Before Matthew, Tom and so many of their fellow servicemen and women died, we knew the risks all British military personnel assume when serving Queen and country.
"However, the long-awaited Iraq Inquiry (Chilcot) Report has confirmed that there were serious failings in the lead-up to, planning and conduct of the war, which led to so many unnecessary deaths.
"Our armed forces must never again be so callously sacrificed by political ambition and the irresponsibility and failings of government and Whitehall."