MUM OF TRAGIC IRAQ SOLDIER
A MUM whose soldier son was killed in Iraq told of her “disgust” that former prime minister Tony Blair is to be knighted.
Rose Gentle, whose 19-year-old son Gordon was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Basra in 2004, spoke out after Blair was awarded the accolade in the New Year’s Honours list.
Rose, 58, has always said she held Blair responsible for the murder of her son.
She said: “Instead of standing in front of the Queen being made a Sir with that stupid grin on his face, he’d be better going to the cemetery and standing in front of my son’s grave to see what he’s done.
“I was gutted when I heard he’s to be knighted. It’s disgusting. He should have been locked up a long time ago.”
Following Gordon’s death, Rose campaigned tirelessly in his memory, setting up Military Families Against the War, the Justice 4 Gordon Gentle campaign and speaking out about the Government’s handling of the Iraq war.
She is now supporting a campaign to have Blair’s knighthood taken back.
The gran of three said: “I’ve written to the honours committee asking why this man has been made a knight. It’s an insult to the fallen and their families.
“I’ve also signed an online petition along with more than 250,000 other people who are disgusted at this.
It is an insult to the fallen and their families ROSE GENTLE ON WHY SHE OBJECTS TO AWARD
“It’s bad enough for me and Gordon’s two sisters having to start another new year without him.
“My heart goes out to my daughters, being hit with this when they should be looking forward to a new year with their own families.
“Gordon would have been 37 on December 23 and, every day, I wake up thinking about him, and go to bed thinking about him. “I wonder if he’d have been married by now, with children of his own who’d have had his outgoing and funny nature. “But I’ll never know because of Tony Blair. “It feels like he’s had the last laugh and we are all forgotten about. “Every day without Gordon is just as hard as the one before. “It’s my three grandchildren that keep me going. Former Labour leader Blair has faced years of criticism over the Iraq War, culminating in the devastating report by Sir John Chilcot in 2016. The probe found Blair had overplayed evidence about Saddam Hussein’s weaponry and ignored peaceful means to send troops into the country.
In a devastating set of conclusions, Chilcot found Blair presented the case for war with “a certainty which was not justified” based on “flawed” intelligence about Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction.
Blair then said he would “take the same decision” to invade Iraq again if he was presented with the same intelligence, as he set out a defiant defence after being savaged by Chilcot’s conclusions.
Following the long-awaited inquiry, the mum of an Army medic, from Scunthorpe, who was also killed in a roadside blast in Iraq, called for Blair to stand trial for war crimes.
Corporal Kris O’Neill, a 27-year-old dad of two, died when the vehicle he was travelling in was blown up by a roadside bomb in Basra in 2007.
His mother, Valerie O’Neill, said she heard Blair was to be knighted at 11.45pm on Friday. Valerie, 64, said: “It absolutely ruined my New Year’s Eve when I heard.
“Instead of going to Buckingham Palace for a knighthood, the only place that man should be going to is to prison for killing our sons and daughters.
“How can they even contemplate giving him a knighthood?
“He’ll have a knighthood and all we have is memories and photographs.
“I wish I could slap him and wipe that smirk off his face.”
After news of his knighthood was revealed, Blair, 68, said he was “immensely honoured to be appointed Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, and I am deeply grateful to Her Majesty the Queen”.
He added: “It was a great privilege to serve as prime minister and I would like to thank all those who served alongside me, in politics, public service and all parts of our society, for their dedication and commitment to our country.”