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Bush Was Set on Path to War, Memo by
British Adviser Says
The New York Times
Monday 27 March 2006
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/international/europe/27memo.html
DON VAN NATTA JR, NEW YORK TIMES - In the weeks before the United States-led invasion of Iraq, as the United States and Britain pressed for a second United Nations resolution condemning Iraq, President Bush's public ultimatum to Saddam Hussein was blunt: Disarm or face war. But behind closed doors, the president was certain that war was inevitable. During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, said a confidential memo about the meeting written by Mr. Blair's top foreign policy adviser . . .
"Our diplomatic strategy had to be arranged around the military planning," David Manning, Mr. Blair's chief foreign policy adviser at the time, wrote in the memo that summarized the discussion between Mr. Bush, Mr. Blair and six of their top aides. "The start date for the military campaign was now penciled in for 10 March," Mr. Manning wrote, paraphrasing the president. "This was when the bombing would begin.". . .
The memo also shows that the president and the prime minister acknowledged that no unconventional weapons had been found inside Iraq. . .
READ FULL STORY:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032706Z.shtml
or
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/international/europe/27memo.html