London: British military chiefs began planning for potential involvement in an American-led invasion after a 2002 meeting between former president George W Bush and ex-prime minister Tony Blair, an inquiry probing the UK`s participation in the war heard on Thursday.
Admiral Lord Michael Boyce, who was chief of the defence staff at the time, said a small group of people were involved in the planning, which began after the former US president and the British prime minister met in Crawford, Texas in April 2002 - a year before Parliament authorised involvement.
"We started ramping up our thinking on the whole subject, of what we could provide if we were asked," he said.
The inquiry is the most extensive examination yet of the war, and Blair is expected to testify early next year. The US-led war - deeply unpopular in Britain - left 179 British soldiers dead and triggered massive public protests.
The five-person panel is expected to offer recommendations by the end of next year - but was not set up to apportion blame or hold anyone liable for the conflict.
Boyce said there was "absolutely no contingency planning" for military action in Iraq in 2001, but by September 2002 - after the Crawford meeting and another between Blair and Bush that month at Camp David - they were planning for a large-scale British contribution to the war effort.
PTI
