Military chiefs to expose conspiracy to misguide nation over Iraq invasion

London: Military commanders are expected to tell the inquiry into the Iraq war, which opens today, that the invasion was ill-conceived and that preparations were sabotaged by Tony Blair's government's attempts to mislead the public.

They were so shocked by the lack of preparation for the aftermath of the invasion that they believe members of the British and US governments at the time could be prosecuted for war crimes by breaching the duty outlined in the Geneva convention to safeguard civilians in a conflict, the Guardian has been told.

The lengths the Blair government took to conceal the invasion plan and the extent of military commanders' anger at the government's "appalling" failures emerged as Sir John Chilcot, the inquiry's chairman, promised to produce a "full and insightful" account of how Britain was drawn into the conflict. Fresh evidence has emerged about how Blair misled MPs by claiming that the goal was "disarmament, not regime change".

Documents show the government wanted to hide its true intentions by informing only "very small numbers" of officials. The leaked documents are "post-operational reports" and "lessons learned" papers compiled by the army and its field commanders. They refer to a "rushed" operation that caused "significant risk" to troops and "critical failure" in the postwar period. Interviewed for the postwar report drawn up by the MoD, Brigadier Bill Moore, commander of 19 Brigade, was asked: "Did you receive the correct level of advice for the nation-building you faced?"

He replied: "We got absolutely no advice whatsoever. The lack of advice from the FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office], the Home Office and DFID [the Department for International Development] was appalling."

Regime change

Documents leaked in 2005 show that, almost a year before the invasion, Blair was privately preparing to commit Britain to war and topple Saddam Hussain, despite warnings that it was unjustified.

They also show how Blair was planning to justify regime change as an objective, despite warnings from the attorney general.

Chilcot says he and his team would not shrink from making criticisms of individuals or organisations if they were justified. However, he stressed the inquiry was not a court of law set up to determine issues of guilt and innocence.