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29/10/2007
Inquest Told ‘Blame Blair’
The death of a soldier killed in Iraq has been blamed on former PM, Tony Blair.
The dead soldier’s mother said she held Blair personally responsible as the inquest into his death resumed.
Fusilier Gordon Gentle, 19, was killed on patrol in Basra on June 28, 2004, and his mother Rose has blamed Army ‘neglect’ for his death.
She said the roadside bomb attack in Iraq could have been avoided and that her son would be alive today if an electronic jamming device had been installed on his Land Rover.
Before the inquest into his death re-opened at Oxford Coroners' Court, Mrs Gentle criticised the length of time it has taken.
She also said she wanted answers to why the Government did not fund the right equipment and why her son was taken to an Iraqi hospital.
She said: "I want to know what happened on the day and why Gordon was killed. I don't agree with the war in the first place and he should never even have been there."
Wearing a poppy and a picture of her son in a pendant around her neck, Mrs Gentle said she was proud of all the soldiers killed in Iraq.
But she said the war was based on lies about weapons of mass destruction and Tony Blair not wanting to fall out with George W Bush and the USA.
She added: "I hope Gordon Brown doesn't fall into his shoes and gets our boys out."
(BMcC)
The dead soldier’s mother said she held Blair personally responsible as the inquest into his death resumed.
Fusilier Gordon Gentle, 19, was killed on patrol in Basra on June 28, 2004, and his mother Rose has blamed Army ‘neglect’ for his death.
She said the roadside bomb attack in Iraq could have been avoided and that her son would be alive today if an electronic jamming device had been installed on his Land Rover.
Before the inquest into his death re-opened at Oxford Coroners' Court, Mrs Gentle criticised the length of time it has taken.
She also said she wanted answers to why the Government did not fund the right equipment and why her son was taken to an Iraqi hospital.
She said: "I want to know what happened on the day and why Gordon was killed. I don't agree with the war in the first place and he should never even have been there."
Wearing a poppy and a picture of her son in a pendant around her neck, Mrs Gentle said she was proud of all the soldiers killed in Iraq.
But she said the war was based on lies about weapons of mass destruction and Tony Blair not wanting to fall out with George W Bush and the USA.
She added: "I hope Gordon Brown doesn't fall into his shoes and gets our boys out."
(BMcC)
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