3.2 |
Development of UK strategy and options, January to April 2002 –
“axis of evil” to Crawford
a poll or
focus group to convince him the difference between right and wrong.
And
it’s
refreshing to see leaders speak with moral clarity when it comes to
the defense
of
freedom.
“… We will
hold Saddam Hussein accountable for broken promises. And that’s
what
a lot of
our discussion … has been about. And … we are going to continue
our
discussions.”
“You talked
about no linkage there. There is a reason why United Nations
resolutions
were passed
… calling upon him to stop developing weapons of mass destruction
…
and that is
because we know he has been developing these weapons.
“We know
that those weapons constitute a threat. Three days after the
11 September
when I made
my first statement to the House of Commons … I specifically
said
then that
this issue of weapons of mass destruction has to be dealt with …
[W]hat
happened on
the 11th of September was a call to us to make sure that we
didn’t
repeat the
mistake of allowing groups to develop a destructive capability and
hope
that, at
some point, they weren’t going to use it. They develop that
destructive
capability
for a reason.
“Now we’ve
made it very clear to you how we then proceed and how we deal
with
this. All
the options are open. And I think after the 11th September this
President
showed that
he proceeds in a calm and a measured and a sensible, but in a
firm
way. Now
that is precisely what we need in this situation too.”
602.
In his memoir,
Mr Blair wrote that he and President Bush had “delivered a
strong
message”
during the press conference, which he characterised
as:
“It was
basically: change the regime attitude on WMD inspections or face
the
prospect of
changing regime.”231
603.
Mr Powell told
the Inquiry that the “worry” about the press conference was
that
“we had
a different position on regime change” and they had spent some time
discussing
how to
avoid exposing a “huge gulf between us”.232
604.
As
suggested by Mr Powell, Mr Blair used his speech at College
Station
on 7 April
to argue for an internationalist approach in dealing with
Iraq.
605.
Mr Blair
advocated a policy of “an enlightened self interest that put
fighting
for our
values at the heart of the policies necessary to protect our
nations”.
231
Blair
T. A
Journey.
Hutchinson, 2010.
232
Public
hearing, 18 January 2010, page 35.
497