Was war in Iraq right or wrong?
Updated on 29 January 2010
For some, the Iraq war shattered lives. For others, it brought hope to the country. As Tony Blair gives evidence at the Iraq inquiry, Channel 4 News asks four people for their view of the conflict.
Seven years on and the war in Iraq is still a contentious issue.
As scenes today outside the Iraq war inquiry showed, thousands are still willing to take to the streets to protest against the conflict. But there are also those who believe military action was just.
Channel 4 News asked four people their view of the conflict, of Tony Blair and the Iraq inquiry.
Author of Beatniks Toby Litt was one of those who received a special "golden ticket" to Tony Blair's Iraq inquiry.
He said that being at the inquiry will be like having "ringside seats to someone else's purgatory".
"Tony Blair's words to the Iraq inquiry may prove decisive because he will, I hope, be asked very directly the exact questions that those future generations would have him answer," he said.
"If he squirms now, he squirms forever. In a sense, I think Tony Blair must realise that the rest of his existence, alive and dead, will play itself out in front of a perpetual Iraq Inquiry. That's his purgatory."
Read his article in full here.
Professor Michael Clarke, who was among those who briefed Tony Blair before the war, wrote that he is guilty of confused optimism rather than an urge to behave illegally.
"History will probably judge Tony Blair less harshly than many now judge him over the Iraq war," he said
"He will be judged as a man who was guilty of hubris and a confused optimism more than dishonesty or an urge to behave illegally."
Read the article in full here.
And what about Iraqis themselves? Seven years on, do they feel regime change in Iraq was worth it?
"Was the war worth it? My brother was shot, my son crippled and my family made homeless," an Iraqi TV producer Ahmed Abdulrahman wrote in a personal article about the war.
"I wish the previous regime could have been removed, but our moral and spiritual decency had been preserved. I wish those responsible for poverty and deprivation had vanished, but our security had remained.
"What did we gain from this war?"
Read the article in full here.
NHS consultant Mohammed Ibrahim wrote that he supported the conflict and was "grateful to Mr Blair".
"Under Saddam, I have seen people executed for the reasons they were unaware of, often with no reason at all, just doubts about their loyalty to Saddam," he said.
"Personally, I am grateful to Mr Blair who helped 25 million Iraqis to get their freedom and raise their hope in a bright future."
