ACCORDING to Tony Blair’s final statement at the Chilcot Inquiry, Saddam Hussein was free to buy all the food and medical supplies his people needed, but chose not to do so.

The facts are these: Following Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait, the US government failed to get the expected response either from the American people or from other nations. They weren’t interested.

It has been reported that a Kuwaiti Ambassador’s daughter was then coached to act as if she were a Kuwaiti nurse.

In this role, it is claimed, she accused Iraqi soldiersof having thrown newborn babies out of incubators.

This had the desired effect. The American people immediately came onside and several nations volunteered to join a coalition.

It was only when Desert Storm was well under way that the allegation was proved to be false.

Meanwhile, the UN imposed sanctions on Iraq in order to persuade Saddam to remove his forces from Kuwait.

Saddam complied immediately and brought the troops back to Iraq.

And what was Saddam's reward for this compliance? An act of cold-blooded treachery.

The sanctions which had already achieved their object were allowed to continue for a further 12 years or more.

These sanctions were substantial. They imposed an embargo on a wide range of goods, from the vital – such as drugs and medical equipment – to the unbelievably trivial – such as pencils, paper, toilet rolls and light bulbs.

And it was all on the grounds that they might be of use to Saddam’s armed forces.

I know of two instances of American charities trying to get medical supplies into Iraq. Both attempts were blocked and the charities heavily fined to discourage them from trying again.

The ‘Oil for Food’ programme, meanwhile was nothing more than a propaganda gimmick – which could mysteriously expand into ‘Oil for Everything’ whenever the occasion arose.

This, however, would have rendered the embargo meaningless. Yet, I suspect this was the basis of Tony Blair’s assertion.

GERALD SAMSON, Preston Road, Abingdon