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But he used his address at the national service of remembrance in St Paul's Cathedral to remind his audience that the conflict remained highly controversial.
Among those in the congregation listening to his words was former prime minister Tony Blair, who led the country into war.
Dr Williams said: "Many people of my generation and younger grew up doubting whether we should ever see another straightforward international conflict, fought by a standing army with conventional weapons.
"We had begun to forget the realities of cost. And when such conflict appeared on the horizon, there were those among both policy makers and commentators who were able to talk about it without really measuring the price, the cost of justice."
The Archbishop alluded to the controversial nature of the campaign, known as Operation Telic, which brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets in protest in the run up to the war.
He said: "The conflict in Iraq will, for a long time yet, exercise the historians, the moralists, the international experts. In a world as complicated as ours has become, it would be a very rash person who would feel able to say without hesitation, this was absolutely the right or the wrong thing to do, the right or the wrong place to be."
Iraq veterans and bereaved families joined the Queen, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and senior military leaders for the poignant service. Servicemen and women injured fighting during Operation Telic, and the families of those killed in the conflict, were also among the congregation.
Other senior royals attending included the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and the Princess Royal. Also present were significant figures who played important roles in the campaign, including former heads of the Army Sir Mike Jackson and Sir Richard Dannatt and former defence secretary Geoff Hoon.
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