Memo: Bush Set On Iraq Invasion In Jan. 2003...

Predicted Violence Between Religious And Ethnic Groups Was Unlikely...

New York Times DON VAN NATTA Jr. March 26, 2006 at 11:20 PM
READ MORE: Iraq, New York Times, Saddam Hussein, George W. Bush

In the weeks before the United States-led invasion of Iraq, as the United States and Britain pressed for a second United Nations resolution condemning Iraq, President Bush's public ultimatum to Saddam Hussein was blunt: Disarm or face war.

But behind closed doors, the president was certain that war was inevitable. During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, said a confidential memo about the meeting written by Mr. Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times.

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