Exactly 20 years ago, George W Bush told Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar & that he plans to go to war with Iraq
He only told Secretary Powell two days later
On 20/1/03, Bush signed a presidential directive giving Pentagon control over postwar Iraq
#IraqWar #IraqWar20 #Iraq
#OTD 20 years ago the UN announced
“It would appear…Iraq had decided in principle to…bring the disarmament task to completion…Weapons inspectors have examined 106 locations & found no evidence that Iraq revived its nuclear weapons programme”
No WMDs, no justification for war
#OTD 20 years ago, in his State of the Union, Bush said “the 16 words”
“The British govt has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa”
It was a lie, based on a forgery
Even the CIA rprtly thought the claims were "highly dubious"
#OTD 20 years ago Rumsfeld said:
“Iraq poses a serious & mounting threat to our country”
Notes of meeting between Bush & Blair two days later make clear Bush intended to invade Iraq even if UN inspectors found no evidence of WMD
FClip from movie, Vice👇)
#OTD 20yrs ago, Bush & Blair had a 2hr meeting at the White House
Bush made clear he intended to invade Iraq even if UN inspectors found no evidence of WMD. & had considered “flying U2 reconnaissance planes…over Iraq, painted in UN colours” to tempt Iraqi forces to fire on them
Wolfowitz: They know we’re at war but they don’t understand against who
Rumsfeld: They want a country. It’s simpler. Cleaner
Cheney: Looks like it’s time to take #Iraq.
Bush: I’ve been wanting to take that m*#$%@ Saddam down for a long time
(Vice, 2018)
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.