As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary”: “523. By late August 2002, the Government was troubled by intense speculation about whether a decision had already been taken to use military force. In Mr Blair’s words, the US and UK had been ‘outed’ as having taken a decision when no such decision had been taken.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Commissioned by the Prime Minister The Right Honourable Gordon Brown MP, “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry: Executive Summary,” IraqInquiry.org.uk, Aug. 15, 2002