Editing David Manning (section)

===2003 Iraq War===
In the weeks before the United States-led [[invasion of Iraq]], as the United States and Britain pressed for a second [[United Nations resolution]] condemning Iraq, [[George W. Bush|President Bush]] met with [[Tony Blair]]. During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on 31 January 2003, Bush made it clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he, Bush, was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, stated a confidential memo about the meeting written by Manning and reviewed by ''[[The New York Times]]''.

At their meeting, Bush and Blair candidly expressed their doubts that chemical, biological or nuclear weapons would be found in Iraq in the coming weeks, the memo said. The president spoke as if an invasion was unavoidable. The two leaders discussed a timetable for the war, details of the military campaign and plans for the aftermath of the war.
The memo also says the president raised three possible ways of provoking a confrontation, including the most controversial:

<blockquote>"The U.S. was thinking of flying [[U2 reconnaissance aircraft]] with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in U.N. colours," the memo says, attributing the idea to Mr. Bush. "If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/international/europe/27memo.html | work=The New York Times | title=Bush Was Set on Path to War, British Memo Says | date=27 March 2006 | accessdate=1 May 2010 | first=DON VAN | last=NATTA Jr}}</ref></blockquote>

His close relationship with the Prime Minister suggests he has been a key figure in driving British foreign policy in respect of the United States, particularly in the [[Aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks|aftermath]] of the [[11 September 2001 attacks]] and the decision to [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invade Iraq]].

On 30 November 2009, Manning [[List of witnesses of The Iraq Inquiry#30 November|gave evidence]] to [[The Iraq Inquiry]].<ref name="BBC Iraq">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8386645.stm|title=Blair 'ready to back regime change in 2002' – adviser|date=30 November 2009|work=[[BBC News]]|publisher=[[BBC]]|accessdate=28 January 2010}}</ref>