The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
303.
SIS10 sent Sir
David Manning an Annex to the Cabinet Office paper,
outlining
options for
SIS activity, on 8 March.103
304.
Addressing the
options examined in the Cabinet Office paper, Mr Blair told
the
Inquiry:
“So that
was the two sides of the argument … which side you came down on
really
depended on
whether you thought post-September 11th we had to be
change
makers or
whether we could still be managers. Up to September 11th we had
been
managing
this issue. After September 11th we decided we had to confront
and
305.
The Cabinet
Office ‘Options Paper’ was prepared as a background
paper.
It contained
no recommendation, and did not represent agreed
inter-departmental
advice for
Ministers.
306.
The paper
was seen by Mr Straw and Mr Hoon and, later, by Mr Brown;
but
it was
not approved by them or discussed collectively.
307.
No further
cross-departmental analysis and advice on the policy options
was
commissioned
before Mr Blair’s meeting with President Bush.
308.
Following
discussions with the FCO and MOD, Mr Jim Drummond, Assistant
Head
(Foreign
Affairs) OD Sec, had asked Sir David Manning on 15 February
for a “quick
meeting” to
discuss what next on Iraq.105
309.
Mr Drummond
had identified two options:
•
Continuing
containment by tightening the No-Fly Zones and destroying
Iraq’s
new air
defence system; pursuing the revised sanctions regime; and
moving
towards
clarification of resolution 1284, including being prepared to
respond
militarily
if there were major finds or the inspectors’ work was
frustrated.
•
Going “for
the military option now”. That could involve either “bomb
plus
stimulate
an uprising in the South and/or Kurdish areas”, which the FCO
did
not think
would get rid of Saddam, or “bomb and invade”.
310.
Mr Drummond
stated that the revised sanctions regime would have
“limited
impact” on
Saddam Hussein’s WMD efforts; and the military option would
present
legal difficulties.
103
Letter
[SIS10] to Manning, 8 March 2002, ‘[title redacted]’.
104
Public
hearing, 21 January 2011, pages 39-40.
105
Minute
Drummond to Manning, 15 February 2002, ‘Iraq’.
442