“President George Bush first asked [British Prime Minister] Tony Blair to support the removal of Saddam Hussein from power at a private White House dinner [on September 20, 2001] nine days after the terror attacks of 11 September, 2001. According to Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British Ambassador to Washington, who was at the dinner, Blair told Bush he should not get distracted from the war on terror’s initial goal–dealing with the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Bush, claims Meyer, replied by saying: ‘I agree with you, Tony. We must deal with this first. But when we have dealt with Afghanistan, we must come back to Iraq.’ ”
– David Rose, “Bush and Blair Made Secret Pact for Iraq War,” The Guardian, April 4, 2004