LONDON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- The British government misled the public and its forces were unprepared and poorly equipped for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, secret documents indicate.
The documents reveal "critical failure," "significant shortcomings," "absence of U.K. political direction" and "lessons learnt," Britain's Sunday Telegraph reported. The papers were leaked ahead of Tuesday's scheduled start of an Iraq inquiry headed by Sir John Chilcot, the newspaper said.