The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
181.
Mr Campbell
wrote that Mr David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, had
referred
to “the
unsettling speculation and said a lot of people had difficulty with
Rumsfeld”
[Mr Donald
Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense].57
Mr Blair
had said President
“Bush was
in charge, not Rumsfeld”.
182.
Lord Wilson of
Dinton told the Inquiry that Mr Blunkett and Mr Robin Cook,
the
Leader of
the House of Commons and President of the Council, had pressed for
the
discussion.58
He could
not recall what had prompted them but observed: “I would
guess
it was
because the newspapers were full of stories.”
183.
From late
February 2002, Mr Blair and Mr Straw began publicly to argue
that
Iraq was a
threat which had to be dealt with.
184.
Mr Blair
discussed Iraq and other issues with President Bush on 28
February.59
185.
Mr Blair
reported the tenor of his discussions at the Progressive
Governance
Summit in
Stockholm and that some individuals had been less hostile in
private than
in public.
The record stated that Mr Blair understood that no plans had
reached the
President’s
desk.
186.
Iraq would be
discussed at their meeting in April in Crawford.
187.
Before the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia, Mr
Blair
gave an
interview to the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on
28 February
in which he
stated that he agreed with President Bush “very strongly that
weapons of
mass
destruction represent a real threat to world stability”; and that:
“Those who are
engaged in
spreading weapons of mass destruction are engaged in an evil trade
and
it is
important that we make sure that we have taken action in respect of
it.”
188.
Mr Blair also
stated that: “The accumulation of weapons of mass destruction
by
Iraq poses
a threat, not just to the region but to the wider world.” President
Bush was
“absolutely
right to raise it”.60
189.
Asked if
Britain was prepared to use force against Iraq, Mr Blair
said:
“When we’re
ready to take action, then we’ll announce it. It is a real issue.
It is a real
threat. How
we deal with it is an open matter.”
57
Campbell A
& Hagerty B. The
Alastair Campbell Diaries. Volume 4. The Burden of Power: Countdown
to
Iraq.
Hutchinson,
2012.
58
Public
hearing, 25 January 2011, page 40.
59
Letter
Rycroft to McDonald, 28 February 2002, ‘Prime Minister’s Phone Call
with President Bush,
28 February:
Afghanistan, Iraq and Middle East’.
60
BBC
News, 28 February
2002, Blair hints
at Iraq action.
418