British Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted on Friday that the decision to invade Iraq was correct, testifying to an inquiry on the war that deposing Saddam Hussein was justified - despite the loss of lives.

In testimony before a looming national election in the U.K., Brown praised the sacrifices of soldiers and civilians, but acknowledged mistakes had been made by leaders in Washington and London over the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. He sharply criticized the United States over failing to heed British warnings over postwar chaos, and dismissed claims he choked military budgets, sending British soldiers to war without adequate equipment.

Brown immediately addressed a critical question: did he agree with the decision of his predecessor, Tony Blair, to go to war?

“Nobody wants to go to war, nobody wants to see innocent people die, nobody wants to see their forces put at risk of their lives, nobody would want to make this decision except in the gravest of circumstances, where we were sure that we were doing the right thing,” said Brown. “I think it was the right decision and made for the right reasons.”