Our objective should be a stable and law-abiding Iraq, within present borders, co-operating with the international community, no longer posing a threat to its neighbours or to international security, and abiding by its international obligations on WMD. It seems unlikely that this could be achieved while the current Iraqi regime remains in power. US military planning unambiguously takes as its objective the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime, followed by elimination if Iraqi WMD. It is however, by no means certain, in the view of UK officials, that one would necessarily follow from the other. Even if regime change is a necessary condition for controlling Iraqi WMD, it is certainly not a sufficient one.
Recall that the output of the meeting for which this document was a briefing is the "Downing Street Memo".
Recall also that on June 08, 2005,
Prime Minister Tony Blair said "the facts were not being fixed in any shape or form at all." But no one is denying that Mr. Rycroft is the person who normally takes minutes, or that the meeting in question didn't occur, or that the minutes are egregiously inaccurate, or that they represent a deep misunderstanding of the substance of the Washington meetings Sir Dearlove had attended and was reporting on. Are. They.
BBA | After Downing Street
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