The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
diplomatic
way forward … I believe there are options still available to us and
these
will be
discussed today with President Bush … the important thing to
recognise is
that when
the international community passes its resolutions … it has got to
show
that it’s
got a mechanism for enforcing its will. And that was, of course,
the purpose
of the
second resolution, but … that could form initiatives that could be
taken this
afternoon
and later, to see if we can resolve this issue without military
action.
“… Even now
there are initiatives on the table that have been put forward by us
and
others that
may help us resolve the question of whether there can be
international
co-operation
but the blockage is the non-compliance of Saddam Hussein and …
at
least one
country saying … in what I think is unreasonable terms, that
whatever the
circumstances
… they would not consider the use of force. And that really
deprives
us of a
mechanism for action …”
664.
Mr Brown
also stated that the Government would not be acting in the way it
was
“unless it
was satisfied that there was a legal basis for its
actions”.
665.
In his
diaries, Mr Campbell described a “long meeting” in Sir David
Manning’s
office
before leaving for the Azores, with Sir David, Baroness Morgan and
Mr Rycroft,
who were
joined by Mr Brown, Dr John Reid, Minister without
Portfolio and Labour Party
Chairman,
and Ms Armstrong.227
666.
The meeting
had tried:
“… to boil
down the central arguments and dividing lines now. I suggested we
say we
intend to
go back to the French and test their position – do they support any
element
of what we
are saying? Are they really saying there are no circumstances in
which
they would
support anything seen as a threat of military action. If they are,
we go.
If not,
we have to look again.
“David M
said there was no indication the French intended to
shift.
“GB
did Frost
and came
back saying the really tough questions were in the
field
of
legality. GB also said if we are saying this is the final shot at
diplomacy, what
are we
actually saying we are going to do after today? Bush didn’t want a
process
story but I
suggested one, namely a last round of contacts at the UN post
the
Azores meeting.”
667.
Mr Rycroft
recorded that in a conversation with Mr Jan Peter
Balkenende,
Prime Minister
of the Netherlands, Mr Blair had said, in reply to a question
about
227
Campbell A
& Hagerty B. The
Alastair Campbell Diaries. Volume 4. The Burden of Power:
Countdown
to
Iraq. Hutchinson,
2012.
514