The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
69.
Debate
about the strategy towards Iraq continued in
Washington
during
August.
70.
The MOD
reported on 12 August that President Bush had
authorised
preparatory
military activities.
71.
A meeting of
the US National Security Council chaired by President Bush was
held
on 5 August
to review what Vice President Dick Cheney described as “the latest
iteration
72.
In his memoir,
General Tommy Franks, Commander in Chief CENTCOM,
described
his
strategic objective as regime change and his operational objectives
as securing the
oil fields
and water infrastructure, while preventing Iraq’s use of long‑range
missiles and
WMD.23
He wrote
that he had told the meeting that, “In a month”, the US would
have
the lead
elements for a “Running Start” force in place. In response to a
question from
Mr Donald
Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, Gen Franks confirmed that
would not take
the US
beyond a point of no return.
73.
Mr George
Tenet, Director of Central Intelligence, was reported to have
replied to
a question
from President Bush about the Iraqi people’s reaction to the
overthrow of
Saddam
Hussein: “Most Iraqis will rejoice when Saddam is
gone.”24
74.
In his book
published in 2012 Mr Colin Powell, US Secretary of State,
wrote that he
and
President Bush had met on the evening of 5 August “to discuss the
pros and cons
of the Iraq
crisis. Momentum within the administration was building towards
military
action and
the President was inclined in that direction.”25
In
Secretary Powell’s view “not
enough
attention had been given either to non‑military options or to the
aftermath of a
military
conquest”. He was concerned about the unpredictable consequences
and had
told
President Bush: “if you break it, you own it”.
75.
Secretary
Powell wrote that, after listening carefully to the
presentation,
President Bush
had asked for recommendations and that he [Powell] had
replied:
“We should
take the problem to the United Nations … Iraq is in violation of
multiple
UN
resolutions. The UN is the aggrieved party. Let’s see if there
might be a
diplomatic
solution to the WMD issue. If not, and war becomes necessary, you
will
be in a
better position to solicit the help of other nations to form a
coalition.”
22
Cheney D
& Cheney L. In My Time:
A Personal and Political Memoir. Simon &
Schuster, 2011.
23
Franks T
& McConnell M. American
Soldier. HarperCollins,
2004.
24
Cheney D
& Cheney L. In My Time:
A Personal and Political Memoir. Simon &
Schuster, 2011.
25
Powell C
with Koltz T. It Worked
for Me: In Life and Leadership. Harper
Perennial, 2012.
106