8 | The
invasion
62.
Following
meetings held by Mr Blair on 11 and 13 March (see Section
6.2), the plan
was
formally approved on 14 March.37
63.
Lt Gen Brims
told the Inquiry:
“… our
principal task was to protect the flank of the US forces as they
advanced …
towards
Baghdad.
“… as well
as the flank protection, we also had to seize and protect the
oil
infrastructure,
and stopping the oil infrastructure being wilfully damaged, was a
key
concern …
[W]e would have to be in the al-Faw [Peninsula] because that’s
actually
the
critical bit … and we had to capture the port of Umm
Qasr.” 38
64.
Gen Reith
described 1 (UK) Div’s role to the Inquiry as “a ‘second echelon
force’
to basically
deal with anything that the main effort and the [US] Marines
bypassed to
65.
On 17
March, Cabinet endorsed the decision to give Saddam Hussein
an
ultimatum
to leave Iraq and to ask the House of Commons to endorse the use
of
military
action, if necessary, against Iraq.
66.
The events
after the Security Council discussion on 7 March which led to
the
decision to
take military action against Iraq are described in detail in
Section 3.8.
67.
A special
meeting of Cabinet was held on 17 March, which endorsed the
decision to
give Saddam
Hussein an ultimatum to leave Iraq and to ask the House of Commons
to
endorse the
use of military action, if necessary, against Iraq.40
68.
Lord
Goldsmith’s advice on the legal basis for military action is
addressed in
Section 5.
69.
President Bush
issued the ultimatum giving Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave
Iraq
at 8pm
(Eastern Standard Time) on 17 March.41
70.
The House of
Commons approved a Government motion seeking support for
the
decision
that the UK “should use all necessary means to ensure the
disarmament of
Iraq’s
weapons of mass destruction” on 18 March.42
37
Letter
Manning to Watkins, 14 March 2003, ‘Iraq: The Military
Plan’.
38
Public
hearing, 8 December 2009, pages 30-31.
39
Private
hearing, 15 January 2010, page 28.
40
Cabinet
Conclusions, 17 March 2003.
41
The White
House, 17 March 2003, ‘President says Saddam Hussein must leave
within 48 hours’.
42
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 18 March
2003, columns 760-911.
15