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Blair denies 'covert' Bush deal Blair denies 'covert' Bush deal
(10 minutes later)
Tony Blair has denied striking a "covert" deal with then US President George Bush to invade Iraq at a private meeting in 2002 at his Crawford ranch. Tony Blair has denied striking a "covert" deal with George Bush to invade Iraq at a private meeting in 2002 at the US president's ranch.
Mr Blair said he had been "open" about what had been discussed - that Saddam Hussein had to be dealt with and "the method of doing that is open".Mr Blair said he had been "open" about what had been discussed - that Saddam Hussein had to be dealt with and "the method of doing that is open".
He said he had told the US president: "We have to deal with his WMD and if that means regime change so be it."He said he had told the US president: "We have to deal with his WMD and if that means regime change so be it."
Mr Blair is being questioned by the Iraq inquiry. The former prime minister is being questioned by the Iraq inquiry.
Earlier witnesses have suggested that Mr Blair told Mr Bush at their April 2002 meeting that the UK would join the Americans in a war with Iraq. THE STORY SO FAR... In April 2002, with 9/11 still dominating the agenda, Tony Blair warns of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destructionDespite the biggest anti-war protest in British history, in March 2003 British forces join the US invasion of Iraq after efforts to get UN backing failWith no weapons of mass destruction found attention switches to the way intelligence was used to justify warThe Hutton inquiry finds the government did not "sex up" dossier on Saddam's weaponsBut the Butler inquiry finds "serious flaws" in pre-war intelligenceAnd with public feelings still running high, Gordon Brown announces Chilcot inquiry to "learn the lessons" of the Iraq conflict. class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8486631.stm">Live: Video, and text commentary class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7312757.stm">Q&A: Iraq inquiry explained class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8486052.stm">Key issues: Blair's response class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=7455&edition=2">Send us your comments
THE STORY SO FAR... In April 2002, with 9/11 still dominating the agenda, Tony Blair warns of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destructionDespite the biggest anti-war protest in British history, in March 2003 British forces join the US invasion of Iraq after efforts to get UN backing failWith no weapons of mass destruction found attention switches to the way intelligence was used to justify warThe Hutton inquiry finds the government did not "sex up" dossier on Saddam's weaponsBut the Butler inquiry finds "serious flaws" in pre-war intelligenceAnd with public feelings still running high, Gordon Brown announces Chilcot inquiry to "learn the lessons" of the Iraq conflict. class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8486631.stm">Live: Video, and text commentary class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7312757.stm">Q&A: Iraq inquiry explained Earlier witnesses have suggested that Mr Blair told Mr Bush at their April 2002 meeting at the ranch in Crawford, Texas, that the UK would join the Americans in a war with Iraq.
Mr Blair also denied he would have supported the invasion of Iraq even if he had thought Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction, as he appeared to suggest last year in a BBC interview. But Mr Blair said: "What I was saying - I was not saying this privately incidentally, I was saying it in public - was 'we are going to be with you in confronting and dealing with this threat'.
Removing Saddam was "always an option", it was only one of several options open to the US and UK, he said. "The one thing I was not doing was dissembling in that position. How we proceed in this is a matter that was open. The position was not a covert position, it was an open position."
"I did not use the words regime change in that interview," he said. Pressed on what he thought Mr Bush took from the meeting, he went further, saying: "I think what he took from that was exactly what he should have taken, which was if it came to military action because there was no way of dealing with this diplomatically, we would be with him."
"The position was a breach of UN resolutions on WMD. That was the case. It was then and it remains." Mr Blair also denied he would have supported the invasion of Iraq even if he had thought Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction (WMD), as he appeared to suggest last year in a BBC interview.
Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot began the six hour question session by stressing that Mr Blair was not "on trial" but said the former prime minister could be recalled to give further evidence if necessary. What he had been trying to say, he explained to the inquiry, was that "you would not describe the nature of the threat in the same way if you knew then what you knew now, that the intelligence on WMD had been shown to be wrong".
The former PM began the session by saying Britain's attitude towards the risk posed by Saddam Hussein "changed dramatically" after 11 September 2001. He said his position had not changed, despite what reports of the interview had suggested.
The former PM said that the policy up to that point was one of "containment". Throughout the morning session, Mr Blair was at pains to point out that he believed weapons of mass destruction and regime change could not be treated as separate issues but were "conjoined".
Mr Blair is facing questions in public for the first time about taking the UK to war against Iraq. He said "brutal and oppressive" regimes with WMD were a "bigger threat" than a benign states with WMD.
He also stressed the British and American attitude towards the threat posed by Saddam Hussein "changed dramatically" after the terror attacks on 11 September 2001, saying: "I never regarded 11 September as an attack on America, I regarded it as an attack on us."
IRAQ INQUIRY TWEETS
Twitter: @BBCLauraK
TB suggests he would take the same decision again - 'it was at least reasonable for me at the time to say we shd take threat v seriously 2 minutes ago Blair - intelligence should have been published on its own because it was 'strong enough' - 'strong enough' for what? Blair appears tetchy 5 minutes ago Expect to hear this again and again - Blair contends we weren't the only ones who thought Saddam had WMD 9 minutes ago Blair following line taken by Alistair Campbell - 45 minute claim only became significant because of later 'sexed up' dossier allegations 14 minutes ago Onto WMD - TB again going down his 'can I just say' tactic, and answering the question that he wants to, not always the one that is asked 30 minutes ago What is this?
The former PM said that the policy up to that point was one of "containment" but it was transformed into the view that Saddam had to be be "dealt with".
"That completely changed our assessment of where the risks for security lay," he said.
"And, just so we get this absolutely clear, this was not an American position - this was my position and the British position."
At the meeting with Mr Bush in April 2002, the US president had "expressed his view that if we were not prepared to act in a really strong way we would run the risk of sending a disastrous signal to the world", said Mr Blair.
Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot began the six hour question session by stressing that Mr Blair was not "on trial" but said he could be recalled to give further evidence if necessary.
Families of some of the 179 British service personnel killed in Iraq are watching the evidence with others said to be joining the 200 or so anti-war protestors outside.Families of some of the 179 British service personnel killed in Iraq are watching the evidence with others said to be joining the 200 or so anti-war protestors outside.
Rose Gentle's son, Gordon, was killed by a roadside bomb in Basra in 2004, while serving with the Royal Highland Fusiliers.Rose Gentle's son, Gordon, was killed by a roadside bomb in Basra in 2004, while serving with the Royal Highland Fusiliers.
Regime change
She said the families of the dead wanted closure and for Mr Blair to explain "in depth" to the families and and the public "why he went in" as she said he had never done that before.She said the families of the dead wanted closure and for Mr Blair to explain "in depth" to the families and and the public "why he went in" as she said he had never done that before.
The Chilcot inquiry is likely to ask Mr Blair at what stage he promised US President George W Bush Britain would support military action against Iraq.
Some witnesses have said assurances were given in 2002 - although the then Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has told the inquiry he had warned Mr Blair that using force for regime change would be illegal.
Millions of British people are still asking themselves: Why did we participate in an illegal invasion of another country? Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg Tony Blair on Iraq: Key questions Send us your comments
Lord Goldsmith, whose legal opinion cabinet ministers and the British military depended upon before agreeing to involvement in the war, said he originally believed the United Nations had to approve the use of force and only changed his mind a month before the invasion.
Mr Blair has also set up another line of questioning by saying in a recent BBC interview that he would have backed the invasion even if he had known beforehand that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.
'Overtly political'
A former head of the civil service, Lord Turnbull, told the inquiry they should question Mr Blair about this because throughout the period leading up to war, Mr Blair had been "unambiguous" that disarming Saddam of weapons of mass destruction was his primary objective.
IRAQ INQUIRY TWEETS
Twitter: @BBCLauraK
Blair following line taken by Alistair Campbell - 45 minute claim only became significant because of later 'sexed up' dossier allegations 4 minutes ago Onto WMD - TB again going down his 'can I just say' tactic, and answering the question that he wants to, not always the one that is asked 20 minutes ago TB says he was 'broken record' trying to persuade Bush to deal with wider M East probs-but doesnt say it was a condition of support for war 50 minutes ago TB's body language speaks volumes about his attitude to Christopher Meyer, former UK ambassador to US - not a fan About 1 hour ago Blair says he agreed with Bush on 'end and means' of dealing with Saddam at Crawford - was that a promise of military action or not? About 1 hour ago What is this?
In his appearance, Mr Blair's former director of communications Alastair Campbell sought to address some of the questions around the key September 2002 dossier on the alleged threat posed by Saddam published in the run up to the war.
The dossier included a foreword by Mr Blair in which he wrote that he believed the intelligence, which the inquiry has been told had many caveats attached, had established "beyond doubt" that Saddam Hussein had continued to produce chemical and biological weapons.
Mr Campbell, who drafted the first version of the foreword - ultimately approved by Mr Blair - said no-one in intelligence challenged this statement which, he added, never suggested Saddam Hussein "was able to do something terrible to the British mainland".
This will be the third time Mr Blair has given evidence during an inquiry into the Iraq war.
He previously gave evidence to the Hutton inquiry, the Butler review and the Intelligence and Security Committee investigation - although the latter two into the pre-war intelligence took place behind closed doors.
Questions at the Hutton inquiry were restricted to events surrounding the death of government weapons scientist Dr David Kelly, rather than the political decisions behind the war.