3.2 |
Development of UK strategy and options, January to April 2002 –
“axis of evil” to Crawford
UK”.181
He did not
think that curtailed Lord Goldsmith’s “ability to offer an opinion
about
the legal
position in due course”. Mr Hoon added in manuscript that he was
“sure that
we can
discuss this further”.
501.
Mr Hoon told
the Inquiry that the interview with Mr Dimbleby had been long
and
that he had
been pushed “quite hard on legality”.182
He had been
“trying quite hard not
to answer
any questions, and that’s quite difficult”. Mr Hoon added that Lord
Goldsmith
had not
been “particularly concerned about the nature of my legal
observation, I think he
was more
concerned that I might be, in effect, boxing him in when he came to
write his
own opinion”.
502.
Lord Goldsmith
told the Inquiry he had “achieved my purpose of making it
clear
that I
didn’t want to see senior ministers making apparently authoritative
statements
on behalf
of HM Government about the use of force before I had even been
asked to
express any
view of it”.183
503.
Mr Wood also
reminded Mr Straw that a further decision by the Security
Council
was likely
to be needed to revive the authorisation to use force in
Iraq.
504.
As agreed in
Mr Straw’s meeting of 18 March, Mr Wood and Mr Grainger
visited
Washington
on 28 March for talks on a range of subjects, not just Iraq, with
Mr William
H Taft IV,
the US State Department Legal Advisor.184
They also
met Mr John Bellinger III,
the NSC
General Counsel.
505.
The talks
included a preliminary discussion of different US and UK
interpretations
of the
legal authorities in various UN resolutions on Iraq for the No-Fly
Zones and future
use of
military force but were not intended to reach an agreed
position.
506.
The record of
the discussions was sent to Mr Paul Berman who sent it to
Lord
Goldsmith
and Mr David Brummell, the Legal Secretary to the Law
Officers.185
507.
Mr Charles
Kennedy, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, wrote to Mr Blair
on
26 March
expressing concern about the possibility of military action against
Iraq
and arguing
that before the UK lent its support for action the Government
must
be
satisfied that there was no other course of action open to the
international
community.
181
Letter Hoon
to Goldsmith, 11 April 2002, [untitled].
182
Public
hearing, 19 January 2010, pages 65-66.
183
Public
hearing, 27 January 2010, page 19.
184
Minute
Grainger to Wood, 8 April 2002, ‘Meetings at US State
Department’.
185
Manuscript
comment Berman to Goldsmith and Brummell, 12 April 2002, on Minute
Grainger to Wood,
8 April
2002, ‘Meetings at US State Department’.
477