5 |
Advice on the legal basis for military action, November 2002 to
March 2003
his provisional
advice was always going to be influenced by what was said
and
meant
during the course of the negotiation of 1441. So I asked that he
speak to
Sir Jeremy
Greenstock and later to the US.”
224.
Asked if he
had understood that his answer in Parliament was inconsistent with
the
legal
advice he had been given, Mr Blair told the
Inquiry:
“I was
making basically a political point. However I accept entirely that
there was
an
inconsistency between what he was saying and what I was saying …
but I was
saying it
not … as a lawyer, but politically.”87
225.
Asked if he
could really distinguish between making a political point and a
legal
point when
presenting a legal interpretation to the House of Commons,
Mr Blair told the
Inquiry:
“I
understand that … I was trying to hold that line … I was less
making a legal
declaration
… because I could not do that, but a political point, if there was
a breach
we had to
be able to act … throughout this period of time … we were going for
this
second
resolution. It was always going to be difficult to get it, but we
thought we
“I tried to
choose my words carefully all the way through. In the two quotes
you have,
I chose
them less carefully …”89
227.
Mr Blair
made similar points justifying the position he had taken in his
discussion
with
President Bush on 31 January and his interview on the
BBC
Newsnight programme
on 6
February.
228.
As promised
by Mr Blair on 19 December, Cabinet discussed Iraq
on
16 January
2003.
229.
Mr Blair
told Cabinet that the strategy remained to pursue the UN
course.
The
inspectors needed time to achieve results. If Iraq was not
complying with the
demands of
the Security Council, a second resolution would be
agreed.
230.
Mr Straw
stated that the UK should not rule out the possibility of
military
action
without a second resolution. Mr Blair repeated that statement
in his
concluding
remarks.
87
Public
hearing, 21 January 2011, page 71.
88
Public
hearing, 21 January 2011, page 74.
89
Public
hearing, 21 January 2011, page 75.
47