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== Summary ==
The '''Bush-Blair memo''' was a secret memo of a meeting between [[United States|American]] [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]] and [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]] that took place on [[January 31]] [[2003]]. It purportedly showed that the Bush administration had already decided on the US [[invasion of Iraq]] at that point.
Low resolution book cover, [[Captive Hearts, Captive Minds]], [[1994]]
== Licensing ==
It has become controversial for its content, which shows Bush floating the idea of painting a [[Lockheed U-2|U-2 spyplane]] in [[United Nations|UN]] colors and letting it fly low over [[Iraq]] to provoke the then-leader [[Saddam Hussein]] to shoot it down, providing a pretext for America and Britain's [[2003 Invasion of Iraq|subsequent invasion]]. It also shows the two making a secret deal to carry out said invasion regardless of whether or not [[weapons of mass destruction]] were discovered by UN weapons inspectors, in direct contradiction with statements Blair made to Parliament afterwards that Saddam would be given a final chance to disarm.
{{Non-free book cover}}
The memo was written by Blair's chief foreign adviser at the time, [[David Manning]]. In it, Bush is paraphrased as saying:
{{cquote|The start date for the military campaign was now pencilled in for 10 March. This was when the bombing would begin.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4849744.stm |title=Bush-Blair Iraq war memo revealed|publisher=[[BBC News Online]]|date=[[2006-03-27]]}}</ref>}}
Five pages long and classified as ''extremely sensitive'', the existence of the memo was first alleged by [[Philippe Sands]] in his book ''[[Lawless World (book)|Lawless World]]''. It was then obtained by American [[newspaper]] ''[[The New York Times]]'', who confirmed its authenticity.
UK [[Liberal Democrats|Liberal Democrat]] leader Sir [[Menzies Campbell]] said, on 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.”'' It was also discussed on BBC World programme [[Dateline London]] by a panel of commentators in the early morning of [[February 6]] [[2006]], the commentators seemed to agree that the memo just confirmed what they already believed to be the case. <!-->Don't know how to source a TV show..<-->
==See also==
*[[Iraq document leak 18 September 2004]]
*[[Downing Street memo]]
*[[Movement to impeach George W. Bush]]
==References==
<references />
*[http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/02/02/the_white_house_meeting_that_took_us_to_war.html The White House meeting that took us to war] By Oliver King, [[Guardian Unlimited]], February 2, 2006
*[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1700881,00.html Blair-Bush deal before Iraq war revealed in secret memo] by Richard Norton-Taylor, [[The Guardian]], February 3, 2006
*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2023128,00.html Bush 'tried to lure Saddam into war using UN aircraft'] by Rosemary Bennett and Michael Evans, [[The Times]], February 3, 2006
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/worldtoday/news/story/2006/02/060203_sands.shtml Fresh claims about the build-up to Iraq war] by [[BBC World Service]], February 3, 2006
*[http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/eg/nyt245.html Bush Was Set on Path to War, Memo by British Adviser Says] by Don Van Natta Jr., New York Times, March 27, 2006
[[Category:British political scandals]]
[[Category:Causes and prelude of the 2003 Iraq conflict]]
[[Category:George W. Bush administration controversies]]
[[Category:Tony Blair]]
[[Category:Stances and opinions regarding the 2003 Iraq conflict]]
[[Category:Anglo-American relations]]
[[Category:2003 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:2003 in the United States]]
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