The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
63.
This report
refers to 92 records of the meeting of Cabinet itself. Of those
records,
the Inquiry
considered that five were of such significance that the text
recording
discussion
of Iraq should be published in its entirety. Those extracts appear
on
the
Inquiry’s website and relate to Cabinet meetings held
on:
•
7 March
2002;
•
23
September 2002;
•
16 January
2003;
•
13 March
2003; and
•
17 March
2003.
64.
The Inquiry
has also reviewed extracts from the notebooks of the Cabinet
Secretary
and Cabinet
Secretariat relating to Cabinet discussions of Iraq between 2001
and
20 March
2003 to satisfy itself that there were no material omissions from
the formal
minutes.
65.
The committee
structure below Cabinet, which usually changes after the arrival
of
a new Prime
Minister, is described in Section 2.
66.
This Report
includes descriptions of discussions and decisions in 111 meetings
of
Cabinet
Committees, held between 2002 and 2009.
67.
As already
described, in many instances the approach taken by the UK
Government
can only be
understood in the context of its dialogue with Washington and the
evolution
of US
policy.
68.
As a
consequence, some of the clearest expressions of Mr Blair’s
thoughts on Iraq
are to be
found in his oral and written exchanges with President
Bush.
69.
Discussions
between Prime Minister and President – by telephone, by
video
conference
or in person – were in most cases recorded by a No.10 Private
Secretary
or Adviser
in the form of a letter to the department(s) with a policy interest
in the content
of the
conversation, in line with normal Civil Service
practice.
70.
This report
refers to 212 of those records, covering discussions held by both
Mr Blair
and
subsequently Mr Brown with President Bush, and a small number of
conversations
between Mr
Brown and President Obama.
71.
Mr Blair also,
throughout his time in office, wrote ‘Notes’ directly to President
Bush.
72.
This report
refers to 30 Notes from Mr Blair to President Bush, all but one of
which
are
published as documents in their own right on the Inquiry’s website.
Redactions which
the
Government has considered necessary in order to approve their
publication are
included as
blank white space, not as black lines.
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