Ten years on from the invasion of Iraq Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood has said that the circumstances that led to the war must never be repeated and that Welsh soldiers should not be sent to illegal wars in future.

She also called for the National Assembly for Wales to be consulted before any Welsh troops can be sent to fight abroad in the future.

Speaking on the ten-year anniversary, Ms Wood also pressed for Welsh regiments to be stationed in Wales.

Leanne Wood said that the Iraq War was the low point of the last decade and that everything should be done in future to avoid military intervention. She said military action could only be justified where it was allowable under international law, morally justified and as part of wider-ranging force to prevent further atrocities.

She added that as Wales has a responsibility for treating veterans, it should also have a say in them going to war.

“Between one hundred thousand and a million people were killed as a direct result of the last Labour Government going to war in Iraq, the vast majority of them Iraqi civilians,” said Ms Wood. “No one has ever taken responsibility for that.

“There has been no regret shown from those who were in power and responsible for causing such carnage in Iraq.

“Agreeing to participate in an illegal international war was the low point of the last Labour government. That intervention was not in my name or the millions that marched against it.

“There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein was a despised dictator, a murderer who used chemical weapons on his own Kurdish citizens.

“The UK Government had neither the support in international law nor the moral right to intervene in 2003.

“Plaid Cymru said at the time that force should always be the last possible action and used only when there are no alternatives. It should only be considered under the auspices of international law and when it can be morally justified in order to prevent further human atrocities.”

She added: “Multiple bombs have gone off in Baghdad on the 10th anniversary. The country is still not safe. The UK Government has failed the people there.

“During the war, 14 soldiers from Wales were killed in pursuit of someone else’s aims. That was wrong.

“No one from the Welsh Government spoke out against that intervention. Had our Assembly had a say there’s a chance that the subsequent decade of misery in the Middle East could have been avoided.

“While the UK Government retains defence and foreign affairs responsibility, in Wales we must be prepared to share the burden of responsibility for the safety of our troops, in the same way that we already share the responsibility towards our veterans when they return from such conflicts.”