A long-awaited official inquiry delivered a devastating indictment of Britain's decision to invade Iraq Wednesday, July 6 finding that the war was based on flawed intelligence and had been launched before diplomatic options were exhausted, CNN reports.

The findings of the 2.6 million-word Iraq Inquiry -- seven years in the making -- were released following a statement by probe chairman John Chilcot in London Wednesday.

The former civil servant said that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein posed "no imminent threat" when the U.S-led invasion was launched in March 2003, and that while military action against him "might have been necessary at some point," the "strategy of containment" could have continued for some time.

Chilcot said former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was warned of the risks of regional instability and the rise of terrorism before the invasion of Iraq, but pressed on regardless. The UK failed to appreciate the complexity of governing Iraq, and did not devote enough forces to the task of securing the country in the wake of the invasion, he added.

"The people of Iraq have suffered greatly," he said.