Secret Data Reveals Blair, Bush Plotted Iraq War Year Before Invasion

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Former US President George W. Bush and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair were negotiating joint military actions against then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a year before the Iraq War, which contradicted Blair’s public political stance, correspondence of former US State Secretary Colin Powell revealed.

"Blair continues to stand by you and the United States as we move forward on the war on terrorism and on Iraq. On Iraq, Blair will be with us should military operations be necessary. He is convinced on two points: the threat is real and success against Saddam will yield more regional success," Powell wrote to Bush in a document published by the Mail on Sunday.

The document also revealed Blair offered to persuade the UK Parliament that Iraq allegedly obtained weapons of mass destruction, so the lawmakers would warrant military actions abroad.

The correspondence was in sharp contrast with Blair’s public stance on the invasion of Iraq, as he was telling his voters the United Kingdom was not proposing any military action.

The United Kingdom was part of a US-led coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003, without a UN mandate, after falsely accusing Hussein of possessing weapons of mass destruction.