Last 23 July, four days ago was the 7th anniversary of thesecret meeting in London that resulted in the so-called Bush-Blair secret Iraq memo ( drawn up by the two architects ofthe Iraq war at a follow-on meeting shortly afterwards) thatpaved the way for the invasion of Iraq the following year.On 23 July 2002, a top secret meetimg was held at the officeof Tony Blair to discuss proposed American suggestions onhow to remove Saddam Hussein from power. The meeting wasattended by British Intelligence top officials, the ForeignSecretary, the Attorney-General and the PM. The persons atthe meeting were informed of the American intention to goto war regardless of whatever outcomes in the UN's dealingswith Iraq. At the meeting, details were drawn up to enablethe UK government to participate in the planned militaryattack on Iraq and to help to do everything possible tojustify the need for the attack.In the meeting, it was decided to fix reports and statementsso that they would reconcile with the position taken by theAmerican side that war against Iraq was unavoidable. Such amove was needed in order to bolster justification for theimpending military attack and win over public opinion.The options to be used by the UK governemt were laid out anddiscussed, including political and military or pre-invasionmeasures that were needed. One important measure or step wasto manipulate the UN Inspection visits to Iraq. Iraq was tobe systematically accused of not providing all the required'cooperation' to allow the UN inspectors to visit the countryand do their work. Those who were on the inspection team werealso to be made use of. Ultimatums would then be publiclyissued giving warnings of the 'inevitable'.Word would be given out that Saddam was hiding WMD (weaponsof mass destruction) in secret locations, including insidehis palaces and he was planning to use them shortly.All possible reasons and legal grounds for the attack wereexplored and discussed. Besides accusing Iraq of failing tocooperate with the UN, other reasons were to use the situationinside Iraq itself as an excuse to invade and that Saddam wasdeviously trying to harm his neighbours.Furthermore, UK ground forces already in the Middle East wouldcarry out moves designed to provoke a response from the Iraqisand thereby fan the flames of war.All these were to prepare the UK public for war with Iraq.To soften the country for the coming attack, Iraq was alsoto be subjected to constant air interdictions. All effortsto ensure that the planned invasion of the country would besuccessful were explored. Baghdad was to capitulate on thevery first day of the invasion if it was possible.The meeting also discussed what could possibly go wrong ifthe invasion did not go as planned. Could countries like
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