Bush “Wanted to Go Beyond Iraq” in Curbing WMD Proliferation Before War, Book Says

U.S. President George W. Bush told British Prime Minister Tony Blair two months before the invasion of Iraq that he “wanted to go beyond Iraq” in dealing with WMD proliferation, according to a recently published book (see GSN, July 15).

In a Jan. 30, 2003, private telephone conversation, Bush mentioned Iran, North Korea, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as countries that posed proliferation problems, the New York Times reported today.

The comment is reported in the U.S. edition of Lawless World, by Philippe Sands, a professor at University College, London, who cites notes on the conversation taken by Matthew Rycroft, then the private secretary to Blair (Douglas Jehl, New York Times, Oct. 14).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.