HOW EMAIL SHOWED BUSH HAD BLAIR IN HIS POCKET

THE memo from Secretary of State Colin Powell, written shortly before Tony Blair visited George W. Bush’s Crawford ranch in April 2002, appears to be the ‘smoking gun’ that proves the Prime Minister had already pledged to support the Iraq invasion long be

BLAIR’S PR OFFENSIVE

Blair was prepared to act as global spin doctor and propagandist-in-chief for Bush as the pair sought to convince the world of the case for invading Iraq. In September 2002, six months after the memo was written, No. 10 would produce the infamous – and entirely false – claim that Saddam could deploy biological weapons ‘within 45 minutes’.

SUPPORT FOR WAR

The key sentence. In public, Blair was insisting at the time that ‘we’re not proposing military action’. However, the PM appears to have already given an undertaking that he would go to war alongside the US It will fuel suspicions that Blair decided to invade first – then concocted a case to justify his actions and win the approval of MPs.

CONVINCING THE PUBLIC

At this stage, the Bush administration was already confident that Blair would act as a cheerleader for action against Iraq and help to reinforce the idea that Saddam was a threat. Blair would also later prove crucial in arguing the UK and US did not need fresh and explicit UN approval to invade.

POST-INVASION PLANS

The PM was already preparing to claim that Britain and the US had a strategy for rebuilding Iraq once Saddam had been toppled. Nothing could have been further from the truth – with the country rapidly descending into anarchy and becoming a hotbed for Al-Qaeda terrorism.

PM’S POLL RATINGS

It is widely held that Blair’s reputation was ruined by the Iraq War. In fact, the memo reveals that his premiership was already on the slide amid concern over reforming schools and hospitals. The unpublished poll ratings point to a politician who was already becoming unpopular.

‘HE’LL STICK WITH US’

Blair was already fretful about being viewed as Bush’s poodle in the so-called war on terror – but the administration did not expect this to prevent him from backing them on Iraq anyway. Bush had to pretend that he viewed Blair as an equal partner in order to help the PM with his domestic audience in Britain.