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Radio 5 Live,2 mins

Colonel Kemp: Iraq war ‘could not have been avoided’

5 Live In Short

Available for over a year

Colonel Richard Kemp, who commanded British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, says he does not believe the Iraq war could have “been avoided�, despite the findings of Sir John Chilcot’s report. Kemp claimed the regime of Saddam Hussein “had to be brought down� because he was “a mass murderer and a long-term state supporter of terrorism, who had links to al-Qaeda.� Asked if Hussein’s removal had caused a “vacuum� filled by so-called Islamic State militants, Kemp claimed Barack Obama’s removal of US forces from Iraq had “led to the situation� instead. Later, he admitted that equipment problems in the British Army were “a disgrace�, caused by a lack of proper funding. This clip is originally from 5 live on Wednesday 6 July 2016.

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