Sir David Manning, Tony Blair’s foreign policy adviser, was heavily involved in the run-up to the Iraq Invasion. His version made Blair’s action fairly simple. When the American "patience ran out," Blair stood by his word to Bush that the UK would be with the US until the end. Like Greenstock and Meyer, he felt we should have given the Inspectors more time.
These three testimonies have a striking absence of something. They frequently mention the "neocons," but they rarely talk about meeting with any of them. They say things like, "American patience had run out" or "the Americans thought we’d given the UN Route a good chance." Yet, when asked about the American opinion, they all said, it depends on "which American." Manning said that there were Americans who didn’t care about post-invasion Iraq. But beyond that, the American soldiers did not move into a peace-keeping mode after the fall of the regime. De-Ba’athification was universally seen as a disaster.
Everyone talked to Dr. Rice. Many talked with Colin Powell. If anyone talked with Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, it wasn’t mentioned. Christopher Meyer reported talking with Scooter Libby and other staff. But by implication, he reinforced the picture of Dick Cheney’s inaccessibility. There were many questions and comments that suggested an American view – yet we know there were American views. It was almost always the State Department vs OVP & DOD. Rice [NSC] was a moderator it seems, listening to this testimony.
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