4.1 |
Iraq WMD assessments, pre-July 2002
chemical
and biological weapons facilities have been restored: some CW
and
BW‑relevant
activity is under way;
(d)
seeking to
rebuild a nuclear weapons programme. Recent
intercepted Iraqi
procurement
efforts have involved material relevant to production of fissile
material;
…”
160.
On 4
December, Mr Blair sent President Bush a paper setting out
proposals
for Phase 2
of the war against terrorism.
161.
Mr Blair
stated that Iraq was a threat because it had a WMD capability;
was
acquiring
more; had shown its willingness to use it; could export that
capability;
and was in
breach of UN Security Council resolutions.
162.
Mr Blair
sent President Bush a paper ‘The War against Terrorism: The
Second
Phase’
on 4
December (see Section 3.1).81
163.
The paper
comprised an overview of the possible approaches to potential
terrorist
threats in
seven countries82
and a
‘Strategy for Confronting Islamic Extremism’ in
moderate
Muslim states.
164.
In relation to
Iraq, the key points included:
•
Iraq was a
threat because: “it has WMD capability; is acquiring more; has
shown
its
willingness to use it; and can export that capability”. Iraq was in
breach of
UN Security
Council resolutions 687 (1991), 715 (1991) and 1284 (1999)
and
Saddam
Hussein supported certain Palestinian terrorist groups and used
terror
tactics
against Iraqi dissidents.
165.
To inform
preparations for the meeting between Mr Blair and President
Bush
in early
April 2002, No.10 commissioned a number of papers in February
2002.
166.
That
included a paper for public consumption setting out the facts on
WMD
in relation
to the key capabilities of countries of concern.
167.
In his annual
State of the Union Address on 29 January 2002 President
Bush
described
the regimes in North Korea and Iran as “sponsors of terrorism”. In
relation to
Iraq’s WMD
he stated that Iraq had continued to:
“… flaunt
its hostility towards America and to support terror … The Iraqi
regime has
plotted to
develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a
decade.
81
Paper Blair
[to Bush], 4 December 2001, ‘The War against Terrorism: The Second
Phase’.
82
Indonesia,
Iran, Iraq, Philippines, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
45