The
Times of London today published a
leaked memo from Downing Street describing a July 2002 meeting with Tony Blair. I've
reproduced the whole thing at my blog because I don't know how long the
Times keeps things online, but here are some of the relevant bits:
C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy....There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.
...
The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun "spikes of activity" to put pressure on the regime.
...
It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran.
In a sane world, the impeachment proceedings would start tomorrow. With war crimes trials for an encore.