WELLINGTON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand opposition politicians said Thursday that they have been vindicated over their decision to refuse to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, after the release of a report that criticized the role of the then British government in the war.
The main opposition Labour Party, which was in power under Prime Minister Helen Clark in 2003, said it stood by its decision not to send troops to help overthrow Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The official Chilcot Report on the British government's role in the war showed the Iraq invasion had sparked regional instability and left a power vacuum that had been filled by the Islamic State insurgency, Labour Party leader Andrew Little said in a statement.
At the time John Key - the current Prime Minister - had said New Zealand was "MIA" when the country's "traditional allies" were involved, while Clark argued the decision to go to war was not justified without a mandate from the UN Security Council.
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