WHARFEDALE families are among those who have been poring over the findings of the long-awaited Iraq War inquiry.

The Chilcot report, a 2.6 million word document seven years in the making, was finally published on Wednesday, July 6 - and concludes that the UK chose to join the 2003 invasion "before peaceful options for disarmament were exhausted".

Flt Lt David Stead of 47 Squadron RAF, from Burley-in-Wharfedale, and Corporal Matthew Cornish of the 1st Battalion The Light Infantry, from Otley, were among the 179 British military personnel killed in the conflict.

In his report Sir John Chilcot critiicises both the way then Prime Minister Tony Blair presented the need for military action and the Government's failure to plan for the likely aftermath.

He said: "The judgements about the severity of the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of a mass destruction - WMD - were presented with a certainty that was not justified.

"Despite explicit warnings, the consequences of the invasion were underestimated. The planning and preparations for Iraq after Saddam Hussein were wholly inadequate."

The inquiry is also critical of "serious equipment shortfalls" that jeopardised troop safety.

And it accuses the Labour Government of the time of "undermining the Security Council's authority" by failing to get a UN resolution authorising military action in March, 2003.

A married father-of-two, Flt Lt Stead, who was 35, was one of ten British servicemen who died when their Hercules aircraft was shot down over Iraq on January 30, 2005.

MP Philip Davies (Con, Shipley), whose constituency includes Burley, said: "This is a huge report which needs plenty of digesting and there are clearly many lessons to learn.

"One of the most damning in my opinion, which I hope doesn’t get overlooked, is the criticism about the 'serious equipment shortfalls when the conflict began' - which had fatal consequences for some of our brave armed forces and, in my opinion, is unforgivable.

"This must never be allowed to happen again."

Corporal Matthew Cornish died after being wounded in a mortar attack on his base in Basra in August, 2006. Married and a father of two, the former Prince Henry's Grammar School student was 29.

Otley's MP Greg Mulholland said: "Now we know Tony Blair misled Parliament, misled the British public and that his decision to invade Iraq was wholly wrong and completely unjustified.

"The fact is, as backed by Sir John Chilcot’s findings, Britain should have never gone to war in Iraq.

“All our thoughts must be with the families and friends of the half a million Iraqis killed as a result of the war.

"I also want to pay tribute to all British servicewomen and men who served on duty in Iraq, particularly the 179 British service personnel who were killed, including Corporal Matthew Cornish.

"Blair’s actions have damaged public trust, damaged the UK’s standing in the world and crippled the ability of the UK to make humanitarian interventions. It is time he accepts responsibility and acknowledged his catastrophic mistake."

Ex-civil servant Sir John has always stated that the report would not make a judgement on whether or not Mr Blair or government ministers had broken international law.

But the report does comment on the issue. It says: "The Inquiry has not expressed a view on whether military action was legal.

"That could, of course, only be resolved by a properly constituted and internationally recognised court.

"We have, however, concluded that the circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for UK military action were far from satisfactory."

It goes on to criticise Mr Blair's statement of September, 2002, when he warned that Saddam Hussein had biological and chemical weapons that could be launched within 45 minutes.

Sir John said: "The judgements about Iraq's capabilities in that statement, and in the dossier published on the same day, were presented with a certainty that was not justified."

On the eve of war Mr Blair had told Parliament that there was a "real and present danger to Britain and its national security".

The report notes that "Mr Blair had been warned, however, that military action would increase the threat from al-Qaeda to the UK and UK interests.

"He had also been warned that an invasion might lead to Iraq's weapons and capabilities being transferred into the hands of terrorists."

It adds that the report, whose findings are backed unanimously by the inquiry committee, is "an account of an intervention which went badly wrong, with consequences to this day."