Read Online The Burden of Power: Countdown to Iraq - The Alastair Campbell Diaries by Campbell Alastair - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Campbell Alastair
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Eurasian affairs, National Security Council]. We were taken upstairs to one of the bigger rooms and TB went over to the corner with Bush and they clearly embarked straight away on a very tough conversation. He said later it had started fine, GWB saying how dreadful the events had been but now something good had to come out of it. The focus was OBL and the Taliban and tonight when he spoke to Congress he was going to deliver the ultimatum. But he also talked about how they could go after Saddam’s [Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq] oilfields. TB emphasised the need for a measured response. Jonathan said later it was funny how [Margaret] Thatcher had gone to see Bush Senior to say ‘This is no time to wobble’ while TB was visiting Bush Junior – ‘This IS a time to wobble.’
We went through for the dinner, scallops, veal, salad, Bush and TB doing most of the talking. Powell, Condi, Fried, Jonathan, DM and me, with Meyer stuck on the end desperately taking notes. I couldn’t work out if he was embarrassed or not by his tantrum. Bush was pretty much directing the conversation, said he was grateful for our support, said Britain was a true friend and we were going to win. He said anyone could join the coalition provided they understood the doctrine – that we were going after terrorists and all who harbour them. Obviously the wider the coalition the better, but they were going to do this anyway. When the scallops arrived, there was a thin ring of pastry on top which he picked up and said ‘God dang, what on earth is that?’ The waiter said it was a scallop. He said to him it looks like a halo and you are the angel. I think he meant the waiter. It was a bit alarming how loudly they all laughed, including Powell, at his jokes, like when he said he wouldn’t do questions at the doorstep because he had his speech later and he was never allowed to say more than one thing a day. I sensed sometimes he was taking the Mickey out of himself, other times out of his team.
When he chose to be serious, he was fine. He said it was interesting Putin himself made sure the Russians didn’t react last week, a clear sign the Cold War was over. Both he and Powell were really worried about Pakistan and wanted TB’s take on how best to help. When wewere talking about Uzbekistan, he said some of their people were ‘throat cutters extraordinaire’ then said don’t write that down, then said if it ever came out he would say it was Powell, and they all started laughing again. He said they were going to go for the Taliban after the ultimatum, said the country was run by a bunch of nuts and we had to get a new government in there. He said he had really beaten up on Sharon who was clearly trying to use this to go after Arafat. ‘I said Arafat is not Bin Laden and you do nothing.’ Putin wanted to use it to go after Chechnya even harder. He said they feared Hollywood was the next target because it was high-profile, Jewish and decadent. They also had intelligence they would go for Air Force One [presidential plane]. He talked us through a fairly graphic account of what happened, how he was told of the first attack at the meeting at the school and he thought it was an accident at first, then how Andy Card [White House chief of staff] whispered to him about the second attack and said to him ‘America is under attack, sir,’ and he said he knew there and then this might be the biggest challenge he ever faced. We agreed the need for written shared objectives and a big public information campaign stressing the long haul.
He told the story of one day when he was playing volleyball and his dad came in and said they had got [Manuel] Noriega [dictator overthrown following US invasion of Panama] and it was ‘like VE Day’ and the truth was it had never just been about Noriega. On Iraq, he said there was no point denying there were differences in the administration. TB said it was easy to sense that every time the subject came up. Reading between
We went through for the dinner, scallops, veal, salad, Bush and TB doing most of the talking. Powell, Condi, Fried, Jonathan, DM and me, with Meyer stuck on the end desperately taking notes. I couldn’t work out if he was embarrassed or not by his tantrum. Bush was pretty much directing the conversation, said he was grateful for our support, said Britain was a true friend and we were going to win. He said anyone could join the coalition provided they understood the doctrine – that we were going after terrorists and all who harbour them. Obviously the wider the coalition the better, but they were going to do this anyway. When the scallops arrived, there was a thin ring of pastry on top which he picked up and said ‘God dang, what on earth is that?’ The waiter said it was a scallop. He said to him it looks like a halo and you are the angel. I think he meant the waiter. It was a bit alarming how loudly they all laughed, including Powell, at his jokes, like when he said he wouldn’t do questions at the doorstep because he had his speech later and he was never allowed to say more than one thing a day. I sensed sometimes he was taking the Mickey out of himself, other times out of his team.
When he chose to be serious, he was fine. He said it was interesting Putin himself made sure the Russians didn’t react last week, a clear sign the Cold War was over. Both he and Powell were really worried about Pakistan and wanted TB’s take on how best to help. When wewere talking about Uzbekistan, he said some of their people were ‘throat cutters extraordinaire’ then said don’t write that down, then said if it ever came out he would say it was Powell, and they all started laughing again. He said they were going to go for the Taliban after the ultimatum, said the country was run by a bunch of nuts and we had to get a new government in there. He said he had really beaten up on Sharon who was clearly trying to use this to go after Arafat. ‘I said Arafat is not Bin Laden and you do nothing.’ Putin wanted to use it to go after Chechnya even harder. He said they feared Hollywood was the next target because it was high-profile, Jewish and decadent. They also had intelligence they would go for Air Force One [presidential plane]. He talked us through a fairly graphic account of what happened, how he was told of the first attack at the meeting at the school and he thought it was an accident at first, then how Andy Card [White House chief of staff] whispered to him about the second attack and said to him ‘America is under attack, sir,’ and he said he knew there and then this might be the biggest challenge he ever faced. We agreed the need for written shared objectives and a big public information campaign stressing the long haul.
He told the story of one day when he was playing volleyball and his dad came in and said they had got [Manuel] Noriega [dictator overthrown following US invasion of Panama] and it was ‘like VE Day’ and the truth was it had never just been about Noriega. On Iraq, he said there was no point denying there were differences in the administration. TB said it was easy to sense that every time the subject came up. Reading between
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