And the hits just keep on coming. First there was the Downing Street Memo of July 23, 2002 detailing how Bush and Blair were discussing how best to initiate military action against Iraq . Now comes another memo from July 21, 2002. Here's a part that immediately caught my eye:

1. The US Government's military planning for action against Iraq is proceeding apace. But, as yet, it lacks a political framework. In particular, little thought has been given to creating the political conditions for military action, or the aftermath and how to shape it.

2. When the Prime Minister discussed Iraq with President Bush at Crawford in April he said that the UK would support military action to bring about regime change, provided that certain conditions were met: efforts had been made to construct a coalition/shape public opinion, the Israel-Palestine Crisis was quiescent, and the options for action to eliminate Iraq's WMD through the UN weapons inspectors had been exhausted.

Notice that date of the meeting of Blair with Bush in Crawford: April, 2002. So the timeline just keeps being pushed back. A full year before actual military action, plans were underway to carry it out. These don't appear to be contingency plans (i.e., what to do if Iraq initiates hostile military action.) They appear to map out a very premeditated course for Britain, particularly the legal justification. And yet, even this far back, these notes comment on how "little thought has been given [by the US Government] to creating the political conditions for military action, or the aftermath and how to shape it." Bloody brilliant!

As always, you can keep up on the dirty laundry around this issue at After Downing Street.