TIMELINE OF THE IRAQ WAR

by Professor | October 18, 2009 at 01:32 am

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00 00 1990 Prior to the Gulf War Iraq had stockpiled 550 short tons (500 t) of yellowcake uranium at the Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Baghdad.

00 02 2002 The CIA sent former Ambassador Joseph Wilson to investigate reports that <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Iraq was attempting to purchase additional yellowcake from Niger. Wilson returned and informed the CIA that reports of yellowcake sales to Iraq were "unequivocally wrong."

00 04 2002 Jack Straw told MPs that no decisions about military action “are likely to be made for some time”. That month Blair said in the Commons: “We will ensure the house is properly consulted.

00 04 2002: PM Blair meets with GW Bush in Crawford, Texas.

01 07 2002: the International Criminal Court (ICC) comes into being - set up to try international offences such as war crimes. the US was not a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), while Britain was.

17 07 2002 Mr Blair tells MP’s “As I say constantly, no decisions have yet been taken.”. The US saw the use of British bases as being “critical”, which posed immediate legal problems and Hoon said the US had already begun “spikes of activity” to put pressure on the regime. The attorney-general made his position clear, telling the meeting that “the desire for regime change was not a legal base for military action”.Right from the outset, the minutes reveal, the government’s legal adviser had grave doubts about Blair’s plans. STRAW suggested a solution: they should force Saddam into a corner where he would give them a clear reason for war. “We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors,” he said. If he refused, or the weapons inspectors found WMD, there would be good cause for war. “This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force,” said Straw. “The prime minister said that it would make a big difference politically and legally if Saddam refused to allow in the UN inspectors,” record the minutes. Blair would subsequently portray the key issue to parliament and the people as the threat of WMD; and weeks later he would produce the now notorious dossier detailing Iraq’s suspected nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programmes.

Hoon said that if the prime minister wanted to send in the troops, he would have to DECIDE EARLY. The defence chiefs were pressing to be allowed to BUY LARGE AMOUNTS OF EQUIPMENT as “urgent operational requirements”. They had been prevented from preparing for war, partly BY BLAIR’S INSISTENCE that there could be no publicly visible preparations that might inflame splits in his party, partly by the fact there was no authorisation to spend any money. Also seen by The Sunday Times is the Foreign Office opinion on the possible legal bases for war. Marked “Confidential”, it runs to eight pages Foreign Office lawyers were consistently doubtful of the legality of war and one deputy legal director, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, ultimately resigned because she believed the conflict was a “crime of aggression”.

23 07 2002 (9am) Downing Street - Blair gathered senior ministers and advisers in the build-up to the Iraq war / In the room were the prime minister, Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, Geoff Hoon, the defence secretary, Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, and military and intelligence chiefs + Alastair Campbell, then Blair’s director of strategy, Jonathan Powell, his chief of staff, and Sally Morgan, director of government relations. A Foreign Office briefing on the legal aspects was made available for the Downing Street meeting. PM Blair was asked repeatedly whether he had seen that advice. “No,” said Blair. “I had the attorney-general’s advice to guide me.” But as the July 23 documents show, the attorney-general’s view was, until the last minute, also riven with doubts. The attorney-general was already warning of grave doubts about its legality. Straw even said the case for war was “thin” Outside Downing Street, the rest of Britain, including most cabinet ministers, knew nothing of this.

24 07 2002 In the House of Commons PM Blair tells MPs: “We have not got to the stage of military action . . . we have not yet reached the point of decision.”.

00 01 2003 The Bush administration continues to allege Iraq's attempts to obtain additional yellowcake were a justification for military action. At a State of the Union address President Bush said that Iraq had sought uranium, citing British intelligence sources.

19 03 2003: Bush launches invasion of Iraq

20 03 2003 IRAQWAR begins - At 5:34 AM Baghdad time on March 20, 2003 (9:34 p.m., March 19 EST) the military invasion of Iraq began

16 04 2003: Bush signs $79 billion supplemental spending bill for Iraq [DoD, 4/16/03]

23 04 2003: USAID Administrator claims Rebuilding of Iraq Could Be Accomplished with $1.7 Billion

14 07 2003: Bush says he had good intelligence before the war.

00 07 2003: PM Blair awarded a Medal by Mr Bush– The Presidential Medal of Freedom

03 09 2003: Report shows Bush failed to plan. A secret report for the Joint Chiefs of Staff lays the blame for setbacks in Iraq on a flawed and rushed war-planning process that ‘limited the focus’ for preparing for post-Saddam Hussein operations. [Washington Times, 9/3/03]

19 10 2003: Bush ignored the experts.

06 11 2003: Bush signs $87 billion supplemental spending bill into law [Bush, 11/6/03]

20 11 2003: Richard Perle suggests Iraq war was illegal.

14 12 2003: Saddam is captured.

19 02 2004: Chalabi declares that he and Bush administration have been “heroes in error.” [Telegraph, 2/19/04]

05 03 2004: Former chief U.N. weapons inspector declares Iraq war illegal. The former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has declared that the war in Iraq was illegal, dealing another devastating blow to Tony Blair. [Independent, 3/5/04]

16 09 2004: U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan declares Iraq war illegal.

07 10 2004: Duelfer Report: Iraq did not have WMD.

30 01 2005: U.S. loses track of nearly $9 billion in Iraqi funds.

01 05 2005: Downing Street Memo revealed.

11 05 2005: Bush signs supplemental spending bill, providing nearly $76 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan [State Department, 5/12/05]

08 11 2005: Powerful new evidence emerged yesterday that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004 [Independent, 11/8/05]

18 12 2005: Bush: “[Much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong.” [Bush, 12/18/05]

03 02 2006: Bush requests additional $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan, $120 billion total for 2006 [Washington Post, 2/3/06]

23 04 2006: A former top CIA official, Tyler Drumheller, reveals evidence that Bush was told before the war by a high-level Iraqi informant that Iraq did not possess WMD [CBS News, 4/23/06]

12 07 2006: White House budget document reveals that administration will ask for another $110 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan [White House Office of Management and Budget, 7/12/06]

03 10 2006: 58 percent of Americans believe the Bush administration has deliberately misled the American public about the war in Iraq. [CNN, 10/4/2006]

08 11 2006 Superbug brought back by Iraq war casualties. Injured soldiers returning from Iraq have brought back a superbug that has been linked with outbreaks in NHS hospitals where they have been treated, a health minister has confirmed.

30 12 2006: Saddam executed by hanging. The execution was conducted just before the Sunni Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha. “It was a slap in the face to Sunni Arabs.” [Salon, 12/30/06]

02 02 2007: Bush requests another $100 billion for Iraq

12 05 2007: Billions in oil missing in Iraq. “Between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels a day of Iraq’s declared oil production over the past four years is unaccounted for and could have been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling, according to a draft American government report.

27 06 2007: PM Blair resigns

06 07 2007: Iraq war costs could top $1.4 trillion.

19 02 2008 Inquiry call over Iraq war dossier. The Government is facing renewed calls for a full inquiry into the Iraq war following the release of the first draft of the notorious dossier on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The 30-page draft - drawn up by the Foreign Office's then-communications director John Williams - was released after the Government lost an appeal last month against a ruling that it should be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act. The document was not released to Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of Government weapons expert, Dr David Kelly, as the Government argued that it was not relevant to the investigation. Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said that was fresh proof the Government had "spun" the case for war and underlined the case for a full, Privy Council inquiry.

00 11 2008 Lord Bingham, the former British Law Lord, described the war a serious violation of international law, and accused Britain and the US of acting like a "world vigilante".

00 01 2009: PM Blair collects his Medal from G Bush

00 02 2009: Iraq War Legality. Jack Straw (Justice Secretary) denies the publication of Cabinet minutes in the run-up to the invasion.

16 06 2009: Anger over “secret Iraq Inquiry”. Gordon Brown condemned over his decision to hold the enquiry behind closed doors. David Cameron talked of “an establishment stitch-up”

30 07 2009 Blair to be called to war inquiry. Tony Blair will be called to give evidence to the Iraq war inquiry, its chairman has confirmed. Sir John Chilcot (Enquiry Chairman) says "wherever possible", evidence would be heard in public but some sessions would remain behind closed doors, "consistent with the need to protect national security, sometimes to ensure complete candour and openness from witnesses". Prime Minister Gordon Brown originally announced that the inquiry would be held behind closed doors and not seek to apportion blame, but was forced into a hasty U-turn amid vehement criticism from senior political and military figures.

23 08 2009 Report accuses MoD of incompetence. Procurement at the Ministry of Defence is incompetent, with administrative failures at the top level putting soldiers lives at risk, according to an unpublished internal report commissioned by the ministry. The 296-page report, commissioned by former defence secretary John Hutton and not yet published, says MoD projects are 35 billion pounds over budget and being delivered five years late, according to the Sunday Times newspaper. "How can it be that it takes 20 years to buy a ship, or aircraft, or tank?" the report's author writes.

11 10 2009 Iraq decision 'was 51-49' – Cherie Blair. Cherie Blair has raised questions about her husband's passionate advocacy of the Iraq war, branding the invasion a "51-49" decision.

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Professor

at 01:33 on October 18th, 2009

David Kelly

00 00 2002 David Kelly was working for the Defence Intelligence Staff at the time of the compilation of a dossier by the Joint Intelligence Committee on the Weapons of Mass Destruction possessed by Iraq – a report commissioned by the Gov. Mr Kelly was asked to “proof read” sections of the draft report and was unhappy with a claim originating from August 2002 that Iraq was capable of firing battlefield biological and chemical weapons within 45 minutes of an order to use them (simply known as "the 45 minute claim").

19 05 2003 Mr Kelly (member of Inspection team) prevented from entering <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Iraq from Kuwait because he did not have the proper documentation.

22 05 2003 Mr Kelly meets with Andrew Gilligan (BBC Journalist). Thyey agreed to talk but on an unattributable basis (no source indentified). Kelly vioced his concerns over the 45-minute claim and ascribed its inclusion in the dossier to Alister Campbell (PM Blairs Director of communications). Although dubious it was broadcast (29 05 2003) that the 45-minute claim had been placed in the dossier by the Gov. Subsequently the Mail on Sunday identified Alister Campbell as the person responsible. The Gov then pressed the BBC to reveal the Source. A Political fight then ensued. Mr Kelly was then concerned that his meeting with Andrew Gilligan was unauthorised by the Gov.

05 06 2003 Mr Kelly in Iraq. He went to see two mobile Weapons Laboratories and was unhappy with the description of the trailers speaking off-record to the Observer about it. On the 15th June 2003 the Paper quoted an expert saying “They are not mobile germ warfare laboratories. You could not use them for making biological weapons. They do not even look like them. They are exactly what the Iraqis said they were - facilities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill balloons”- The Hutton enquiry confirmed Mr Kelly said this.

30 06 2003 Mr Kelly advises the MoD that he had been in contact with Gilligan although adding that "I am convinced that I am not his primary source of information.". The MoD then publicised that someone had come forward whom might be the source yet also gave sufficient clues to guess it was Mr Kelly which it later confirmed. Normally the MoD would refuse to comment on such matters so why did it comment on this occasion?. He had been given a formal warning by the MoD over that meeting and advised that more action may follow if he had been lying to them. Mr Kelly became extremely disturbed by the Publicity and went to Cornwall with his wife.

04 07 2003: Iraq Dossier – Blair’s Spin Doctor admits tinkering.PM Blairs top aid had admitted to tinkering with a security report seen as bolstering the campaign for US-led action against Iraq, a confidential letter published in a London newspaper showed. But Mr Campbell denies that he personally inserted the 45-minute warning into the document. The letter being crucial into whether Ministers had deliberatly misled Parliament and exaggerated intelligence, against the wishes of security services. It reveals that Mr Campbell suggested 11 changes be made to the draft dossier, published in its final form by the Gov on Sept 22nd, six monthsbefore the invasion. Significantly, Mr Campbell denies allegations that he personally “sexed-up” the 50 page dossier by insisting it state the 45-minute entry. Campbell wrote “The chairman of the JIC has also confirmed and authorised me to say that it [ the claim ] reflected recent intelligence already in the JIC’s classified assessment and that I played no part in the decision to include the intelligence in the dossier”.

15 07 2003 Mr Kelly appears before a televised Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Although one of the hottest days of the year the Air conditioning had to switched off to hear the words of a man under severe stress. The committee came to the conclusion that Mr Kelly was not the source. In the questioning MP Andrew MacKinlay, asked Mr Kelly to list the journalists that he met but Mr Kelly replied that the list be supplied by the MoD. In response MacKinlay announces that This is the high court of Parliament and I want you to tell the Committee who you met. You are under an obligation to reply - and 'I reckon you are chaff; you have been thrown up to divert our probing. Have you ever felt like a fall-guy? You have been set up, have you not?'. Mr Kelly became deeply upset by his treatment before the committee and described MacKinlay as an “Utter Bastard”.

16 07 2003 Mr Kelly gave evidence to the Intelligence and Security Committee. He told them that he liaised with Operation Rockingham within the Defence Intelligence Staff.

17 07 2003 The Death of David Kelly [ UN Weapons inspector in Iraq ]. Kelly's wife reported him missing shortly after midnight that night, and he was found early the next morning. The government immediately announced that Lord Hutton would lead the judicial Hutton Inquiry into the events leading up to the death. The Hutton Inquiry took priority over an inquest, which would normally be required into a suspicious death.

05 08 2003: Blairs Spin Machine – Impact. Calls for the sacking of the Downing Street Spokesman who called weapons expert David Kelly a “Walter Mitty” type character. Alastair Campbell is expected to quit after the Hutton Enquiry leaving Mr Blair without a spin machine.

25 08 2003: Kelly widow fought Blair spin. She protested to Blair about spin Doctors smearing him. Dr Kelly told a friend that he was shocked to be named because the MoD told him his meeting with BBC Journalist Andrew Gilligan would be kept confidential. Geoff Hoon appearing before the enquiry has borne the brunt of critism for the emergence of Dr Kelly’s name. Mr Hoons department took the controversial step of rejecting incorrect names put to them until Dr Kelly’s was reached.

28 01 2004 Hutton Inquiry report - David Kelly had committed suicide. Hutton criticised the MoD for not alerting Kelly to the fact that his name had become known to the press. The following day the Press provided a Nation with the words “WHITEWASH” on the front page of Newspapers. During the Hutton inquiry a British Ambassador (David Broucher) reported a conversation with Kelly at a Geneva meeting in February 2003. Broucher had asked Kelly what would happen if Iraq were invaded, and Kelly had replied, "I will probably be found dead in the woods.". According to an entry in one of Kelly’s diaries to that enquiry the meeting actually took place on February 18 2002 a year earlier than that said by the British Ambassador David Broucher And any such references to 'Resolution 1441' could not have taken place as it hadn't been passed until 8th Nov 2002. As such it could not be a source of hostility by the Iraqis. Although suicide was officially recorded some medical experts have raised doubts that the evidence does not back this up.

00 03 2004 Nicholas Gardiner (Oxfordshire coroner ) reviewing evidence that had not been presented to the Hutton Inquiry decided that there was no need for further investigation. This conclusion did not satisfy those who had raised doubts, but there has been no alternative official explanation for Kelly's death.

19 05 2006 Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat MP – whom had previously investigated the Hinduja affair leading to the resignation of government minister Peter Mandelson) announced that he had been investigating "unanswered questions" from the official inquiry into Kelly's death. He later announced that he had uncovered evidence to show that Kelly did not die from natural causes. In 00 07 2006 Norman Baker claims that his hard drive had been wiped remotely!.

10 05 2007: Andrew Marr writes. New Labour was the most media-obsessed Government Britain had had in modern times. With Alastair Campbell, a former tabloid newspaper journalist, and Peter Mandelson, a former television current affairs producer, working so closely with Blair, this was hardly surprising.

15 10 2007 A Freedom of Information request reveals that the knife with which Kelly allegedly committed suicide had no fingerprints on it.

16 05 2008 Cherie Blair memoirs -I will not quit as judge. She’s accused of bringing the legal profession into disrepute while also rejecting criticism for writing about the death of Dr David Kelly. The brother of Dr Kelly's widow said Downing Street was responsible for his death and that Mrs Blair should be "ashamed of herself" for using his suicide to bolster her husband's image. Mrs Blair is said to have received a £1 million advance.

13 07 2009 Calls for fresh Dr Kelly inquiry. Campaigning doctors have called for a formal inquest into the death of government scientist Dr David Kelly. They have produced a report arguing an earlier finding of suicide was flawed.