“On the night of March 19 [2003], [President] Bush ordered an airstrike on a compound outside Baghdad in the hope of killing Saddam–and perhaps ending the war even before it started. Three ROCKSTAR sources [members of Saddam’s security detail who’d been recruited by the CIA]…had placed the Iraqi dictator at the site. But either their […]
3/19/2003
“On 19 March [2003], special forces started moving into Iraq and the US got an intelligence report that Saddam Hussein and his sons were together in a restaurant and an effort was made to bomb them. …For quite some time they did not know whether or not Saddam Hussein was alive.” – Clare Short, An […]
3/18/2003
“On March 18, [2003,] he [Blair] made an impassioned speech to the House of Commons. He argued that force was the only answer to Saddam, saying: “The only persuasive power to which he responds is 250,000 allied troops on his doorstep.” The House of Commons voted for war 412 to 149.” – Andrew Langley, Bush, […]
3/18/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary:” “294. In his memoir, Mr Blair described his speech opening the debate on 18 March as ‘the most important speech I had ever made’. 295. Mr Blair framed the decision for the House of Commons as a ‘tough’ and ‘stark’ choice between ‘retreat’ and […]
3/18/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary”: “328. Challenging Saddam Hussein’s ‘claim’ that he had no weapons of mass destruction, Mr Blair said in his speech on 18 March: -‘… we are asked to believe that after seven years of obstruction and non-compliance … he [Saddam Hussein] voluntarily decided to do […]
3/18/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary”: “286. On the evening of 18 March, the House of Commons passed by 412 votes to 149 a motion supporting ‘the decision of Her Majesty’s Government that the United Kingdom should use all means necessary to ensure the disarmament of Iraq’s weapons of mass […]
3/18/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary”: “285. The French President’s office issued a statement early 18 March stating that the US ultimatum was a unilateral decision going against the will of the international community who wanted to pursue Iraqi disarmament in accordance with resolution 1441. It stated: ‘… only the […]
3/18/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary:” “[UK] Parliamentary debate and vote on [the use of military action in] Iraq.” – Commissioned by the Prime Minister The Right Honourable Gordon Brown MP, “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry: Executive Summary,” IraqInquiry.org.uk, March 18, 2003 […]
3/18/2003
“On March 18 [2003], the day after [President] Bush delivered his ultimatum [that Saddam and his sons had 48 hours to leave Iraq], [U.K. Prime Minister] Tony Blair staved off opposition from members of his own Labour Party and at last won the support of the House of Commons to disarm Iraq by ‘all means […]
3/18/2003
On March 18, 2003, Saddam Hussein appeared on Iraqi television. “With a pistol holstered at his right hip, he railed at the ‘American, English and Zionist invading aggressors,’ and warned that they faced defeat. …he denounced Bush’s ultimatum [that Saddam and his sons leave the country] as ‘debased and baseless,’ and said it represented ‘a […]