Bush Feared 'Looking Weak' on Iraq?
Less than two months before invading Iraq, George W. Bush fretted that his war plans could be disrupted if United Nations weapons inspectors succeeded in gaining Saddam Hussein's full cooperation, possibly leaving Bush "looking weak," according to notes written by a secretary to British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Taken by Blair’s personal secretary Matthew Rycroft, the notes were included in a new edition of Lawless World, a book by University College professor Philippe Sands, according to investigative reporter Robert Parry of ConsortiumNews.Com.
At the time, Blair wanted Bush to seek a second resolution from the U.N. Security Council that would have judged Iraq to be in violation of U.N. disarmament demands and would have authorized military action. According to the notes, Bush agreed that “it made sense to try for a second resolution, which he would love to have.”
But Bush’s deeper worry was that chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix would conclude that Hussein’s government was cooperating in the search for weapons of mass destruction, thus delaying or blocking U.S.-led military action.