LONDON, March 5 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the London inquiry into the Iraq war Friday that the post-war planning fell short of his expectations.
London is examining its role in the Iraq war from the planning stages shortly after the Sept.11, 2001, attacks on the United States to the withdrawal of British forces in 2009. A total of 179 British service members died during operations Iraq.
Brown, who served as finance minister under his predecessor Tony Blair, told the panel Friday that although he felt the 2003 invasion was the proper thing to do, inadequate post-invasion planning was a lingering regret, The Times of London reports.
"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.
Blair told the inquiry in January that he made no distinction between disarming Saddam Hussein and regime change. Brown backed that assessment Friday, saying it was right to deal with an "aggressor state" by force.
The prime minister, however, said that the loss of lives in the Iraq war was something that made him "very sad indeed."
Brown faced criticism for his role as finance minister for a perceived lack of funding for British forces. He defended his position, however, saying, "there should be no sense that there was a financial restraint that prevented us doing what was best for the military."
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband faces the panel Monday.
