British Panel Begins Inquiry on Iraq War

Anti-war protesters from the 'Stop the War' group, wearing masks depicting British Prime Minister...

Anti-war protesters from the 'Stop the War' group, wearing masks depicting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, right, former US president George W. Bush, center and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, pose for the photographers, outside the conference center where the Iraq war inquiry ia taking place, in central London, Tuesday Nov. 24, 2009. In the most sweeping inquiry by any nation involved in the Iraq war, a panel investigating Britain's role in the conflict begins questioning witnesses Tuesday in hearings that critics hope will humble former Prime Minister Tony Blair and expose alleged deception in the buildup to conflict. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

(AP)

An inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq war kicked off Tuesday with top government advisers testifying that some Bush administration officials were calling for Saddam Hussein's ouster as early as 2001 — long before sanctions were exhausted and two years before the U.S.-led invasion.

Critics hope the hearings, which will call ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair and are billed as the most sweeping inquiry into the conflict, will expose alleged deception in the buildup to fighting. However, they won't establish criminal or civil liability.

As the inquiry began, a small group of anti-war protesters gathered near Parliament. Three wore face masks of George Bush, Blair and Prime Minister Gordon Brown — their hands and faces covered in fake blood.

"Five years we've waited for this, and finally we're getting somewhere," said Pauline Graham, 70, who traveled from the Scottish city of Glasgow to see the hearings. Her grandson Gordon Gentle, 19, was killed in the southern Iraqi city of Basra in 2004.

Sir Peter Ricketts, who was chairman of Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee in 2001, said Britain had hoped for a strengthened policy of containment — reducing the threat posed by Iraq through sanctions, weapons inspections and security measures. The strategy had been in place since the 1991 Gulf War when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait.

But Ricketts said some in the Bush administration had a different vision.

"We were conscious that there were other voices in Washington, some of whom were talking about regime change," Ricketts said, citing an article written by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice warning that nothing would change in Iraq until Saddam was gone.

The panel will question dozens of officials over the next year — including military officials and spy agency chiefs. It will also seek evidence but not testimony from ex-White House staff.

Bereaved families and activists have long called for an inquiry into the U.S.-led war that left 179 British soldiers dead and triggered massive public protests. The Labour-led government lost a significant share of parliamentary seats because of the war.