Good morning all, as the inquiry turns one week old.
Our witnesses today are Sir Edward Chaplin (UK ambassador to Jordan 2000-02 and then FCO director, Middle East & North Africa 2002-04) and a return appearance by Sir Peter Ricketts (who we saw last week in his previous incarnation as JIC chairman 2000-01 but who pops up today as FCO director general, Political 2001-03).
Today’s session continues the theme of “UK policy towards Iraq 2001-03”. As per yesterday it will probably mean a mixture of international diplomatic moves in the run-up to the war and questions about how its aftermath was – or wasn’t – planned for. The latter should really kick in on Thursday and Friday (the Inquiry takes a break tomorrow) when the military and MoD top brass park their tanks outside the conference centre.
Apologies by the way for two bum steers. On Thursday I predicted that Sir Jeremy Greenstock – at the time the the government’s ambassador to the UN – would get asked about Clare Short’s allegations the UK was involved in bugging Kofi Annan’s office in the run-up to the war.
Then on Monday I confidently forecast that Sir David Manning would be grilled over the leaked March 2002 memo – when containment was still very much the stated UK policy – in which he told Blair that he’d assured Condoleezza Rice: “you would not budge in your support for regime change but you had to manage a press, a parliament and a public opinion which is very different than anything in the States.”
Two big questions you might think. Neither got asked. Other than that I haven’t got much of a future as a fortune-teller, what does that tell us?