“The plan to disband the Republican Guard but retain the regular [Iraqi] army was approved by President Bush and his war cabinet on March 12 [2003]… One of the PowerPoint slides shown to Bush, which he endorsed, stipulated ‘maintain current status’ of the army as one component of the postwar plan. The United States ‘cannot […]
3/11/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary”: “242. Mr Straw wrote to Mr Blair on 11 March setting out his firm conclusion that: ‘If we cannot gain nine votes and be sure of no veto, we should not push our second resolution to a vote. The political and diplomatic consequences for […]
3/11/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary”: “249. Reporting discussions in New York on 11 March on the draft resolution and details of a possible ‘side statement’, Sir Jeremy Greenstock advised that the draft resolution tabled by the UK, US, and Spain on 7 March had ‘no chance… of adoption’.” – […]
3/11/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary”: “248. When Mr Blair and President Bush discussed the position late on 11 March, it was clear that President Bush was determined not to postpone the start of military action. They discussed the impact of President Chirac’s remarks ‘gave some cover’ for ending the […]
3/11/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary”: “810. … -At a meeting on 11 March, there was concern that the advice did not offer a clear indication that military action would be lawful. Lord Goldsmith was asked, after the meeting, by Admiral Boyce on behalf of the Armed Forces, and by […]
3/11/2003
U.K. Prime Minister “Tony Blair was offered a way out of attacking Iraq at a secret meeting with his foreign secretary Jack Straw eight days before the invasion [March 11, 2003], according to documents lodged with the Chilcot inquiry [the British public inquiry into their involvement in the war in Iraq]… An anonymous official told […]
3/11/2003
On March 11, 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld “made it clear that even British assistance [in invading Iraq] was superfluous, telling a Pentagon press conference that Britain’s role was ‘unclear’ and the invasion plan could easily proceed without [U.K. Prime Minister Tony] Blair’s troops.” – Karen DeYoung, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell, Page […]
3/11/2003
In a March 11, 2003, article titled ‘Cheney under fire over spoils of war,’ The Evening Standard reported: “The company once headed by U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney is set to be a big corporate winner in the event of a war with Iraq that ended in U.S. victory. Houston-based oil services company Halliburton, which he […]
3/11/2003
On March 11, 2003, at a convention for the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Washington, D.C., former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said: “U.N. weapons inspectors have been thwarted at every turn. They have been forced to play a game of hide and seek in a country the size of the state of […]
3/11/2003
On March 11, 2003, at a convention for Veterans of Foreign Wars in Washington, D.C., former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said: “Those very weapons [banned from Iraq by the U.N.] are the source of our concern. The issue is not about Iraqi oil. If the United States had wanted access to Iraqi […]