麻豆社

A damning report on Britain's role in the Iraq war of 2003 has listed a series of failings which are still having consequences to this day. Britain and the US invaded Iraq because of the fear that President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, which later proved to be untrue. South African experts had produced a report refuting this claim before the war began.

South Africa's president at the time, Thabo Mbeki, tried in vain to convince his British counterpart Tony Blair and US President George W Bush that toppling Saddam Hussein would be a grave mistake. The incident is documented by South African journalist John Matisonn in his book God, Spies and Lies.

(Photo: President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa speaks next to British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Progressive Governance Conference in London, 2003. Credit: Getty Images.)