UK’s new inquiry on Iraq’s invasion “is much broader”

An inquiry has been launched in the UK to look at Iraq's invasion, the intelligence used to justify it and the aftermath of the war. It will be conducted by a panel of five experts whose work may last until 2011.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and his predecessor Tony Blair, were forced to abandon plans for the probe to be held behind closed doors.

The panel's chairman, Sir John Chilcot, a career diplomat and top civil servant, said the commission's initial findings might be announced within a year.

The inquiry will look at the events beginning in summer 2001 through July this year when the bulk of British troops left Iraq.

Adrian Pabst, from the Luxembourg Institute for European and International Studies, believes this new inquiry should respond to any questions that remain unanswered.

“It will hopefully respond to some of the public questions: why did we go in, what were the political decisions, when were they made, and what mistakes were made,” he explained.

“This new inquiry is much more broader, it will look at the entire run-up to the war, it will look at the war itself as well as the aftermath. And as such, it will hopefully respond to some of the public’s questions: such as why did we go in, what were the political decisions, when were they made and what mistakes were made during the war and during the reconstruction period after the war,” Pabst said.