"That is what not finding huge quantities of WMDs were and are: a small issue. The issue of what to do about Saddam and Iraq was much larger than a single thing."

......."""Britain's most senior military officer at the time of the invasion of Iraq told the Chilcot inquiry he repeatedly asked Tony Blair for an assurance that the war would be lawful and was emphatically assured the aim was never "regime change".

In striking contrast to previous evidence about the former prime minister's war aims, Admiral Lord Boyce said : "Our policy absolutely and specifically was not regime change".

Blair's closest advisers, including Sir David Manning have told the inquiry that the former prime minister assured President George Bush he was willing to undertake regime change. Lord Turnbull, cabinet secretary at the time, described Blair as a "regime changer".

Boyce made clear he was deeply concerned about the legality of an invasion. Lord Goldsmith had warned more than once that regime change was "not a legal basis for military action"."""

We could talk about how at the time before and just after the Iraq war, it was all about WMD'S. Only once the probability of finding any has literately vanished did the Bush and Blair spin doctors say regime change was why the UK and USA had to goto war.

About the only problem of stability was that Iran might invade Iraq, it was shown that Saddam did not want Iran to know his military might was as effective as trying to fill a crack in a dam with pollyfilla.

It's plain, it's simple.. no need for debate.