3.3 |
Development of UK strategy and options,
April to July 2002
120.
Mr Tom
McKane, Deputy Head of OD Sec, raised the question of
when
Lord Goldsmith
should be brought in to the discussions on the legal basis
for
military
action.
121.
On 22 May,
Lord Goldsmith received a visit from Mr William Taft IV, the
Legal
Adviser to
the US State Department.55
Mr Wood’s
note of this meeting recorded:
“The
meeting lasted about an hour, and consisted entirely of an informal
discussion,
between
lawyers, on legal aspects of the use of force … The discussion was
a good
one, though
it did not significantly add to our knowledge of the US
position.”
122.
Mr McKane
wrote to Sir David Manning and others in No.10 on 18 June
suggesting
that it
might be necessary to:
“… confront
the legal base for military action sooner rather than
later.
The MOD
say
that the US
will not admit the UK to detailed joint planning unless we are able
to
agree that
regime change is a legitimate and legal objective.”56
“… the
question is when to start to engage with the Attorney General,
bearing in
mind, on
the one hand, the difficulty of framing a case in the abstract and,
on the
other hand,
the need to be able to assure the US that we will not face
insuperable
problems
downstream on the legal base. I will provide further advice on this
point
shortly.”
124.
Sir David
Manning asked Mr Jonathan Powell: “Are you content? We
certainly
need much
greater precision from the MOD.”57
125.
Mr Powell
replied: “I think there is a danger of getting ahead of ourselves
here
unless this
is absolutely necessary, to get into detailed military planning
with the US.
I suggest
you discuss with TB on the way to Paris.”58
126.
Before he
spoke to Mr Blair, Sir David Manning asked Mr McKane to “confirm
that
it is now
absolutely necessary to get into the detailed planning with the US”
and added:
“I suspect
it is if we are to have a voice.”59
127.
The Inquiry
has not seen any written response.
55
Letter Wood
to Brenton, 30 May 2002, ‘UK/US Legal Contacts’.
56
Minute
McKane to Manning, 18 June 2002, ‘Iraq’.
57
Manuscript
comment Manning to Powell, 19 June 2002, on Minute McKane to
Manning,
18 June
2002, ‘Iraq’.
58
Manuscript
comment Powell to Manning on Minute McKane to Manning, 18 June
2002, ‘Iraq’.
59
Note
(handwritten) Manning to McKane, 21 June 2002.
25