Some politicians within the Icelandic parliament believe Iceland should apologize to Iraq for supporting the 2003 invasion. The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee told reporters that he considers it a possibility.
Video footage released by Wikileaks of US Apache helicopters shooting several unarmed civilians – among them, journalists and children – has caused quite a buzz globally, and Iceland is no exception. Birgitta Jónsdóttir, an MP for The Movement, told morning radio that she believes the right course of action would be for the Icelandic government to formally apologize to the Iraqi people for supporting the 2003 invasion.
Árni Þór Sigurðsson, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told RÚV that a formal apology was definitely a possibility, adding that a parliamentary resolution has already been put forward to investigate exactly how Iceland ended up in the “coalition of the willing” in the first place.
About 80% of Icelanders polled by Gallup in early 2003 were against supporting any invasion. No vote was taken on the matter on parliament. However, Iceland soon appeared on the list of nations supporting military action against Iraq.
Then-Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson and then-Foreign Minister Halldór Ásgrímsson have long been suspected of being the architects behind Iceland’s support of the war. A formal investigation into the matter is expected to begin soon.