Chilcot Report Front Page From The National Shows Tony Blair And 179 British Soldiers Killed In Iraq War

Tony Blair is shown half in the shadows.
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As the nation prepared to hear the contents of Sir John Chilcot's eponymous report, one newspaper's front page was easily the most striking.

Pro-Scottish independence newspaper The National featured Tony Blair's face half in shadow, alongside the headline "Chilcot: At last".

Overlayed on the former prime minister's face were the images of the 179 British soldiers who died during the Iraq war.

Of those killed, 136 died as a result of hostile action, while 43 are known to have died either as a result of illness, non-combat injuries or accidents, or have not been assigned a cause of death, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians were killed, with some estimates that upto 200,000 died in the aftermath as the country descended into chaos and sectarian violence fuelled by groups ranging from Al Qaeda to so-called Islamic State.

Many people praised the front page on social media...

Chilcot's report into the Iraq War was set for publication on Wednesday, seven years after it was first announced and more than five years after the inquiry's final hearings took place.

In an interview ahead the release of the 12-volume, 2.6 million word report, the chairman of the Iraq Inquiry warned that it “wouldn’t shy away” from criticising decisions or conduct on the basis of "rigorous analysis".

Chilcot was set to share his findings with the families of servicemen killed in the conflict, before finally publishing his report online around 11.30am.

But on Tuesday evening he signalled that it would not be a "whitewash" that some fear, even though few expect Tony Blair to be personally made legally liable for deaths caused by the war.

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