The Burden of Power: Countdown to Iraq - The Alastair Campbell Diaries (8 page)

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 we
were 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 the lines, I sensed Bush was with the doves but he enjoyed teasing Powell. I think the mood might have been different if Cheney and Rumsfeld had been there.

TB talked about the need to be sure of his ground, that we needed public opinion with us the whole time. Bush said yes, but when I am speaking tough I’m speaking to Middle America, most of whom have never heard of Bin Laden, they just know someone attacked their country and killed their fellow citizens, and they say hey, Mister President, go get someone and why ain’t you done it the day before yesterday? He was in some ways much more impressive than the image, and very straightforward and self-deprecating, which is always a good trait in a leader, but the cumulative effect of the jokes, the asides and the trivial points left you feeling a bit uneasy by the end. It was the cowboy bit. He did, however, as he had over Putin when we first met, show signs of adaptability and intelligence. When TB said he had spoken to [Mohammed] Khatami [President of Iran] on the plane, Bush laughed out loud, assumed it was a joke. But when
TB said he was sending Jack S to Iran on Monday, Bush suddenly got serious, discussed Iran in some detail and then set out the kind of message he would like Jack to deliver. TB was making a point of praising Powell. He was going to be key in keeping strategy on the right track. It was still hard to work out who was calling the shots.

Bush was also graphic on the sophistication of the attacks and the technical ability of the pilot who hit the Pentagon. He seemed to have a certain admiration for the fanatic. Said the timing and the execution were sophisticated, brilliant. He said there are Muslims so dedicated they are prepared to drink to pretend to people around them they are not Muslims. They did a brief doorstep, TB fielding most of the questions and then he and GWB went up to the Bush flat before heading out to Congress. Bush and TB travelled together in the presidential limo. Jonathan, DM, Meyer and I were taken up to the First Lady’s box, with the press gallery to our right, the Congress down below. TB came in with Laura, [Rudolph] Giuliani [mayor of New York], [George] Pataki [governor of New York] and the guy who was going to be the new homeland security minister [governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge]. It was all a bit Politburo, standing ovations constantly interrupting the speech, rapturous applause for good lines, off the radar if they were really good. Because TB was next to Laura, he had to get up every single time that she did, which was every time anybody else did. Anji was watching me from the other side of the gallery and said I looked like I had swallowed a lemon. It was grim. Poodle-ology gone mad. But it was an excellent speech for all that, very well crafted. The story was ultimatum and telling the US troops to be ready. We met up with Bush afterwards, and he gave TB an enormous bear hug. This was getting worse. He was very warm to me as well but I couldn’t wait to get out. Things hadn’t been made easier by a couple of dreadful conversations with Fiona who said she could see Kosovo coming all over again, and I’d never be there. TB was drained by the whole thing. He kipped a bit on the drive out to the plane. We had a bit of debrief and TB said I had to seize the opportunity to co-ordinate strategy. It was now 4am UK time and everyone was shagged out. I slept most of the way back.

TB liked the note I had given to Karen Hughes and wanted me to get going on it. C wanted a copy, saying there was all manner of stuff they could do with us. We landed in Brussels and drove to [UK ambassador to the EU Sir Nigel] Sheinwald’s residence. Stryker McGuire called from
Newsweek
and said there was a buzz going round
that someone had overheard one of our people saying it was all a bit of a disaster, Bush was really alarming and planning to do far more than we wanted. I just about persuaded him it wouldn’t have been any of the key people. But I agreed with Godric I should probably do a briefing, and we also pushed the line about changing UK law on terrorism. I was trying to pull them back from the sense of imminent military action. I went for a run and then back from TB’s TV interviews where he was very good on the empathy and some of the personal stories from New York.

The summit [European Council emergency meeting on terrorism] was straightforward enough, and the text OK. TB wanted me to work on the US press to get them to see it as significant. Jack arrived and agreed to do the press conference rather than TB, who, thank God, wanted to leave early. I got home about midnight. Chris Patten [former Conservative Cabinet minister, now a European commissioner] hitched a lift back with us and said he was really worried about the Tories now but resisted my blandishments about defecting. The trip had gone well. TB was getting an amazing press at the moment. GWB had also turned things around with his speech which most of our media thought was very powerful, and some printed the whole thing in full.

We were really just in military build-up mode now, plus I was keen to get coverage in the mainstream media for what we were trying to do to reach Muslims at home and abroad. TB called from Chequers and clearly thought now we should probably go to Pakistan. We set off for Norwich vs Burnley and met Charles Clarke and family for lunch. Charles felt that our politics were fine and TB was getting real strength out of this. He felt Clare should have been sacked years ago, that he never saw why Neil [Kinnock, former Labour leader] tolerated her and the same went for TB. Almost two weeks on now, the media was still totally dominated by the attacks, particularly now the anti-terror laws and military build-up. I did a conference call for the ministers on programmes tomorrow stressing that we praise Pakistan and talk up OBL as being un-Islamic. We lost 2–1. Generally, I felt the mood was pretty good considering. Certainly no grief and if anything a sense that TB had done well. The Sundays arrived late, millions of words of fuck all.

TB called before a round of calls with Kofi [Annan], [Jean] Chrétien [Canadian Prime Minister], [Atal Bihari] Vajpayee [Indian Prime
Minister]. We briefed up TB’s meeting with the chairs of select committees tomorrow, Home Affairs, Defence, Foreign Affairs, International Development. We needed to show we were building a domestic coalition as carefully as the international coalition. TB was sure now he needed to go overseas again but both of us were worried we were losing sight of the domestic agenda. Philip [Gould, pollster, strategist and adviser to TB] did a good note on the conference speech. We had dinner with the Goulds, Tessa [Jowell], David [Mills, Jowell’s husband] and Jessie [Mills, their daughter]. David and Jessie were both very heavily against military action. Jessie was very anti-American, and said most young people were.

At the intelligence meeting, John Scarlett presented more evidence of OBL’s involvement. But they were still no clearer on exact current whereabouts. He went through what they knew of the kind of security operation that existed around Bin Laden, which meant he basically never stayed in the same place twice, and apart from a few who were with him the whole time, the others would rotate. The intelligence picture was very patchy and I had a lot of doubts about whether we could get to the stage where any of this was publishable. The feeling was military action next week rather than this. Boyce said the US were realising they did not have the targets they thought they might have. TB was interested in what more we could do for Pakistan. Lander briefed on the people who had been arrested, also on the intelligence that the UK could be the next threat, up to and including anthrax.

TB and I had a long chat later re GB. TB had asked him what he thought of what was happening, and got the monosyllabic treatment. Eventually he said ‘How am I supposed to know what to think? I don’t know what is going on.’ TB said there was not a word of support, or a hint of understanding of how tough this was. He even got back to the point of demanding a date for TB’s departure, at which point TB snapped, said he was fed up of the way he spoke to him, the way he treated him. ‘You say I have a choice about when to go. It’s you that has a choice, about whether you work with me or against me, and get it into your head that if you work against me, you’ll get no help from me.’ He said GB was also urging him to cut loose the IRA from the peace process, which was ridiculous. I sometimes wondered whether he wouldn’t actually be a total disaster as prime minister and whether in fact we weren’t duty-bound to ensure it didn’t happen. John Rentoul had a very good
line on the ‘psychologically flawed relationship’ and it wasn’t far wrong.
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The main issue to be resolved today was the recall of Parliament, and what to do about party conference. TB wanted it all kept under review. He was worried about the meeting with the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Intelligence select committees but in the end it went extremely well.

TB went through four separate areas – diplomatic, action being taken, evidence re the attacks, implications for domestic law. He said we were sure the Taliban knew something was happening. He made clear military action would follow if they do not comply in yielding up OBL. He went over some of the long-term issues, money laundering, shutting down the camps, the trade in WMD capability, including the involvement of what he called responsible business people. He said a lot of people had expected the US to go straight in but they didn’t. They want to get it right. Even the Tories were effusive in their praise for his handling. Questions were intelligent and sensible and as an exercise it was definitely worth doing. Chris Mullin [Labour MP, chair of the Home Affairs select committee] said afterwards he had found it extremely useful. TB was on good form and they sensed he was in charge and in control of all the arguments. On conference, we agreed it would be difficult to do normal traditional conference-type announcements but we should not imagine the whole flavour had to be foreign affairs.

TB had a meeting with IDS, who did a very supportive doorstep. TB felt he was a reasonably nice guy but very right wing, e.g. already trying to link OBL to Iraq. I went home for a run with Rory [AC’s elder son] then back for TB’s dinner with Blunkett, Milburn, Estelle [Morris, Education Secretary], Steve Byers, Cherie and Sally [Morgan, political secretary]. Both Alan and Estelle felt they didn’t have the money to deliver and needed to press for more, that the tax credits agenda was doing them in. They both seemed demoralised. They also feared that even if we met the targets, people would not see it as a transformation of public services. Blunkett had a right old rant at the Civil Service.

Jack Straw was involved in a diplomatic row with Israel as he arrived in Iran because he talked about Palestine in an article for an Iranian
newspaper. TB said the FCO sometimes lacked subtlety. Sharon cancelled his meeting with Jack and it took a call with TB to get it back in his diary. We needed TB up today so I spent much of the day putting together a script in three parts: 1. Taliban are our enemy as diplomatic effort intensifies; 2. we are addressing the humanitarian crisis, and 3. we will report on any change to domestic law within two weeks. We announced the recall of Parliament.

At my morning meeting, I asked who was the minister responsible for the civil contingencies situation and was told Chris Leslie [junior minister]. Lovely bloke, but the public would be shocked, I reckoned, that it wasn’t a big hitter. I spoke to JP after speaking to TB and we agreed Blunkett should lead on the issue. JP came to see me later, concerned he had not been visible, but there was going to be plenty of deputising work to be done, for example CHOGM [Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting] if TB didn’t go. TB was talking to Sharon, [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad and later giving a polite bollocking to Jack. He then spoke to [Junichiro] Koizumi [Japanese Prime Minister] before he did a doorstep with the main political editors out on the terrace overlooking the garden. He was on form, strong on the Taliban and good on the humanitarian too. I did a background briefing for the broadcasters. We were having to chop and change his diary the whole time.

Jack called from Israel, convinced that we were briefing against him and that the idea of Number 10 charging in to rescue ministers was bad for everyone. I think I managed to assure him that we weren’t, and he accepted there had been a fuck-up but wanted me to make it more clear that Sharon called TB, not the other way round, and that there had been no question of him having to apologise. Jack and I usually managed to straighten things. TB had done a draft outline for conference and we were now into pre-speech mode, what was the argument, what was the idea, what was the narrative. I really liked the power of community as a force for change at home and abroad. I was getting more alarmed about the lack of civil contingencies planning.