Phatforums News Room and Blog

Gordon Brown: Military action in Iraq was "the right decision... for the right reasons" Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said the 2003 war was "right", as he gives evidence to the UK's Iraq inquiry. He insisted he had not been kept in the dark by his predecessor Tony Blair in the run up to the invasion. And he had been convinced by his own intelligence briefings that Iraq was a threat that "had to be dealt with". But the main issue for him was that Iraq was in breach of UN resolutions - and that "rogue states" could not be allowed to flout international law. If the international community could not act together over Iraq, Mr Brown said he feared the "new world order we were trying to create would be put at risk". 'Diplomatic route' Mr Brown, who was chancellor at the time of the war, is giving evidence weeks ahead of the UK general election, which is expected to be held in early May. He began the session by paying tribute to the "sacrifice" made by British servicemen and women. THE STORY SO FAR He may have been writing the cheques as chancellor, but Gordon Brown remained largely silent in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war He was thought by some to be sceptical about it. Others thought he was hedging his bets ahead of a leadership bid After becoming PM, he set up the Iraq inquiry to "learn lessons" from the war, although he originally wanted it held in secret and the timing ensured it would not report until after the election Ex-military leaders have given evidence at the inquiry suggesting Mr Brown kept defence spending tight during his 10 years at the Treasury with some suggesting this had a knock-on effect on forces' kit Mr Brown has denied this and will want to counter any impression, as put by David Cameron, that he did not see the military as a priority until he was PM and it became politically convenient LIVE: Video and text commentary Q&A: Iraq war inquiry Iraq inquiry: Day-by-day timeline "Nobody wants to go to war, nobody wants to see innocent people die, nobody wants to see their forces put at risk of their lives. "Nobody would want to make this decision except in the gravest of circumstances where we were sure that we were doing the right thing. "I think it was the right decision and made for the right reasons." Mr Brown acknowledged that there "important lessons" to be learned from the way the country descended into chaos following the invasion. "It was one of my regrets that I wasn't able to be more successful in pushing the Americans on this issue - that the planning for reconstruction was essential, just the same as planning for the war," he said. He said he had warned the US administration before the invasion that post-war reconstruction had to be properly planned for, adding: "I cannot take personal responsibility for everything that went wrong." "There will be other states, rogue states that need to change and we need to ensure civilian support as well as military support to do what's necessary when a broken state … [Read more...]