The Bush–Blair 2003 Iraq memo or Manning memo is a secret memo of a two-hour meeting between American President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and British Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

that took place on 31 January 2003 at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. The memo purportedly shows at that point, the administrations of Bush and Blair had already decided that the invasion of Iraq would take place two months later. The memo was written by Blair's chief foreign policy adviser,

David Manning Sir David Geoffrey Manning, (born 5 December 1949) is a former British diplomat, who was the British Ambassador to the United States from 2003 to 2007. He authored the so-called " Manning Memo", that summarized the details of a meeting betwe ...

, who participated in the meeting. The memo has become controversial for its content, which includes discussing ways to provoke

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

into a confrontation, with Bush floating the idea of painting a U-2 spyplane in

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(UN) colors and letting it fly low over

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

to provoke Iraq into shooting it down, thus providing a pretext for the subsequent invasion. It also shows Bush and Blair were making a secret deal to carry out the invasion regardless of whether

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...

were discovered by UN weapons inspectors, in direct contradiction to statements made by Blair to

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

afterwards that Saddam would be given a final chance to disarm. According to the memo, Bush is paraphrased as saying: Bush also said to Blair that he "thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups" in Iraq after the war. Five pages long, and classified as ''extremely sensitive'', the existence of the memo was first alleged by Philippe Sands in his book '' Lawless World'' (2005). It was then obtained by American

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', which confirmed its authenticity. UK Liberal Democrat party leader

Menzies Campbell Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, (; born 22 May 1941), often known as Ming Campbell, is a Scottish politician, advocate and former athlete. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for North ...

said, with regard to the memo: "If these allegations are accurate, the Prime Minister and President Bush were determined to go to war with or without a second UN resolution, and Britain was signed up to do so by the end of January 2003."

References

External links

The White House meeting that took us to war
By Oliver King, Guardian Unlimited, February 2, 2006
Blair-Bush deal before Iraq war revealed in secret memo
by Richard Norton-Taylor,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, February 3, 2006
Bush 'tried to lure Saddam into war using UN aircraft'
by Rosemary Bennett and Michael Evans,

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

, February 3, 2006
Fresh claims about the build-up to Iraq war
by

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

, February 3, 2006
Bush Was Set on Path to War, Memo by British Adviser Says
by Don Van Natta Jr., ''New York Times'', March 27, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bush-Blair 2003 Iraq Memo 2003 in the United Kingdom 2003 in the United States Causes and prelude of the Iraq War George W. Bush administration controversies Memoranda Political scandals in the United Kingdom Presidency of George W. Bush Iraq War documents Premiership of Tony Blair United Kingdom–United States relations Labour Party (UK) scandals

See also

References

External links