08-03-2010, 04:19 AM
Gordon Brown tells Iraq inquiry: I fully backed the war
Gordon Brown has said that he was "fully in line" with the decision to invade Iraq in 2003.
By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent
Published: 11:53AM GMT 05 Mar 2010
Speaking at Sir John Chilcot's inquiry into the war, Mr Brown gave his most explicit endorsement yet for the conflict.
He also insisted that he had fully funded the Armed Forces as they prepared for war.
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Brown has rarely spoken about his role in the events leading up to the war, which cost 179 British lives.
Some Labour supporters believe Mr Brown either harboured private doubts about the war, or was shut out of the decision-making process by Tony Blair, then the prime minister.
But in his evidence, Mr Brown rejected both those ideas, insisted he had actively backed Mr Blair in his decision to invade.
Mr Brown was adamant that he had been "in the loop" of Mr Blair's decisions. He said he had five private briefings from the intelligence agencies, which persuade him that Iraq was an "aggressor state."
He said: "I had full information. There is no sense in which I had inadequate information. I was fully engaged in the discussions which had taken place. I was involved in the financial discussions in relation to the military options.
He added: "In terms of my relationship with the Prime Minister, I was fully in line with what was being done."
Mr Brown said he asked for briefings about Iraq's military programmes before the war.
"I had five meetings with the intelligence chiefs. These were very full briefings," he said. "The information I was given was about the weaponry that the Iraqi government held."
The failure to find evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq showed that ministers should not rely too much on intelligence, Mr Brown said.
"I think we have learned that intelligence can give us insights into what is happening, but we have got to be more sure, as people have recognised, about the nature of the intelligence we were receiving from certain people."
Mr Brown, who was Chancellor at the time of the invasion, will face questions later about his funding of the Armed Forces.
The early questioning focused on the build-up to the war. Mr Brown insisted that he had told the Ministry of Defence that he would fund whatever commanders believed was needed for military action.
"At every point, I made it clear we would support whichever option the military decided on," he said.
Mr Brown also said that his Treasury had been involved in planning for post-war Iraq. He suggested that the US government was mainly to blame for the chaos that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.
He said: "It’s one of my regrets that I wasn’t able to more successful on pushing the Americans further on this issue.
"I cannot take personal responsibility for everything that went wrong. I did a paper for the Americans saying that this needed to be done."
Gordon Brown has said that he was "fully in line" with the decision to invade Iraq in 2003.
By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent
Published: 11:53AM GMT 05 Mar 2010
Speaking at Sir John Chilcot's inquiry into the war, Mr Brown gave his most explicit endorsement yet for the conflict.
He also insisted that he had fully funded the Armed Forces as they prepared for war.
Related Articles
Brown has rarely spoken about his role in the events leading up to the war, which cost 179 British lives.
Some Labour supporters believe Mr Brown either harboured private doubts about the war, or was shut out of the decision-making process by Tony Blair, then the prime minister.
But in his evidence, Mr Brown rejected both those ideas, insisted he had actively backed Mr Blair in his decision to invade.
Mr Brown was adamant that he had been "in the loop" of Mr Blair's decisions. He said he had five private briefings from the intelligence agencies, which persuade him that Iraq was an "aggressor state."
He said: "I had full information. There is no sense in which I had inadequate information. I was fully engaged in the discussions which had taken place. I was involved in the financial discussions in relation to the military options.
He added: "In terms of my relationship with the Prime Minister, I was fully in line with what was being done."
Mr Brown said he asked for briefings about Iraq's military programmes before the war.
"I had five meetings with the intelligence chiefs. These were very full briefings," he said. "The information I was given was about the weaponry that the Iraqi government held."
The failure to find evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq showed that ministers should not rely too much on intelligence, Mr Brown said.
"I think we have learned that intelligence can give us insights into what is happening, but we have got to be more sure, as people have recognised, about the nature of the intelligence we were receiving from certain people."
Mr Brown, who was Chancellor at the time of the invasion, will face questions later about his funding of the Armed Forces.
The early questioning focused on the build-up to the war. Mr Brown insisted that he had told the Ministry of Defence that he would fund whatever commanders believed was needed for military action.
"At every point, I made it clear we would support whichever option the military decided on," he said.
Mr Brown also said that his Treasury had been involved in planning for post-war Iraq. He suggested that the US government was mainly to blame for the chaos that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.
He said: "It’s one of my regrets that I wasn’t able to more successful on pushing the Americans further on this issue.
"I cannot take personal responsibility for everything that went wrong. I did a paper for the Americans saying that this needed to be done."
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
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"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.