. >> mr. blair said the military options were discussed at crawford. >> yes, it was obviously a possibility of military action be in the outcome of what was going to happen and so there was a general discussion of the possibility of going down the military rate that obviously we were arguing very much for that to be at the u.n. route failed. >> i think for reasons we will come to later, i think it would be impressed by the minute ministry of defense to deciding on an 2002 west k-kilo package the u.k. would be prepared to contribute to the event in military action. i think we have also heard there were essentially for possible military packages under consideration with the main discussion focused on the too large and possible packages, the key should be whether we should contribute an armored division. i think her chief of staff told us that the entity had abdicated the largest package. the large land force option because they felt this was important to the relations of the u.s. military and often be

>> no. >> apparently was mr. blairor secretary gates since this i think is a matter of the associated with al qaeda with whom we are at war. westy asked his opinion about how the interrogation should be-- >> very senior people in the fbi had input in the decision. >> and, is there some protocol-- what is this high value detainee's interrogation group? shouldn't they have been activated as part of this and in the future shouldn't they be activated as immediately upon such an event as this? >> yes, but quite often one of the reasons we are putting it together is to identify potential persons that may come into thoracostomy-- custody. some expertise in this particular area of the world, which as it relates after we learned, after we did the initial interrogation that it was yemen so you have to fit together with the expertise to do their own terry and-- interrogation. >> i would agree with that but that wasn't done. somebody made a decision in this case that they would be tried in civilian court, they would be given a mir

>> no. >> apparently was mr. blair or secretary gates since this i think is a matter of the associated with al qaeda with whom we are at war. westy asked his opinion about how the interrogation should be-- >> very senior people in the fbi had input in the decision. >> and, is there some protocol-- what is this high value detainee's interrogation group? shouldn't they have been activated as part of this and in the future shouldn't they be activated as immediately upon such an event as this? >> yes, but quite often one of the reasons we are putting it together is to identify potential persons that may come into thoracostomy-- custody. some expertise in this particular area of the world, which as it relates after we learned, after we did the initial interrogation that it was yemen so you have to fit together with the expertise to do their own terry and-- interrogation. >> i would agree with that but that wasn't done. somebody made a decision in this case that they would be tried in civilian court, they would be given a mi

my understanding, mr. blairied that you were not consulted about the decision about whether or not this terrorist was going to go to a civilian court or a military court for some marc >> i was not consulted with the high interest interrogation room was deployed so that the questioning of abdulmutallab would be admissible in federal court order was being exploited for intelligence purposes. that might be related to where they would be tried, but not exclusively. we would like to be able to do both. we would like to get the information that would help us for intelligence purposes and had evidence that could be used against the person in a federal court. if we have to make a choice, then that ought to be made at a higher level with all the considerations you are talking about. >> my sense is what the american people want is for our military and our intelligence and our law enforcement community to have all the tools possible to get both good information and justice. >> exactly. >> all the tools are important but we

my understanding, mr. blairarlier you testified that you were not consulted about the decision as to whether or not this is going to a sibling cord or a military court? >> that's not what right. i was not consulted whether the high interest interrogation group was deployed, so the questioning of abdulmutallab would be either admissible in federal court over was being exploited for intelligence purposes that's related to where they would be tried but not exclusively that we would like to be able to do both that we would like to get the information that would help for intelligence purposes and have evidence that could be used against the person in a federal court. if we have to make a choice, then that ought to be made at a higher level with all other of the considerations that you are talking about. >> i think, my sense is the american people want is for our military and our intelligence and our law enforcement community to have all the tools possible to get both good information and justice. >> exactly. >> and i

my understanding, mr. blair, earlier you testified that you were not consulted about the decision about whether or not this terrorist was going to go to a civilian court or a military court for some marc >> i was not consulted with the high interest interrogation room was deployed so that the questioning of abdulmutallab would be admissible in federal court order was being exploited for intelligence purposes. that might be related to where they would be tried, but not exclusively. we would like to be able to do both. we would like to get the information that would help us for intelligence purposes and had evidence that could be used against the person in a federal court. if we have to make a choice, then that ought to be made at a higher level with all the considerations you are talking about. >> my sense is what the american people want is for our military and our intelligence and our law enforcement community to have all the tools possible to get both good information and justice. >> exactly. >> all the tools

mr. blair is facing questions today on allegations that his government was so determined to topple saddam hussein that the exaggerated the content of intelligence reports on the weapons of mass destructive -- destructions. president obama is on his way to baltimore where he will visit a small business to announce a revised business tax credit. it would go to companies to hire new workers. the president then visits congressional republicans meeting in baltimore for their animal retreat. we will have live coverage of that starting at about 12:10. mike mullen talks about leadership today and strategy, participating in a discussion with john warner and others. live coverage of that at 3:00. >> deerfield that american jazz can be an instrument for spreading -- do you feel that american jazz can be an instrument for spreading good will overseas? >> i think so. just like a religion. >> he was without question the single most important figure in jazz and 20 century. >> q&a, sunday, his new biography of

you worked for mr. blair from 1994 until your resignation on the 29th of august, 2003.did that make you buy 2003 the longest serving of his close advisers? >> no. i'm trying to remember when jonathan powell arrived. i think he was just after me. there were certainly people in the early streets who had been around before i joined tony blair. >> you when jonathan powell were two very long serving advisors. now, in the. 2001 to 2003 which were looking up this morning, u.s. the chairman said with the prime minister's director of two medications and strategy a very broad job description. what was your actual goal? >> how i would define it is my job is to work with the prime minister in particular but also whether ministers and officials to help devise and implement communication strategies for the government and the prime minister, both in relation to overall direction >> just communication strategies? >> political strategies. i would say that in relation to the communications and a strategy bit, it is the key medications i understood, but i think the longer i was with him,

destruction and jonathan powell i think offered some about the link and i will have the chance to ask mr. blair that next friday. >> so there was a certain difference of view, i think i attempted this between you and the prime minister on the regime change which use a perfectly natural, but the same time you were loyal to his point of view. there were number of locations and the speech was one. there were more in 2003 where the pan mr. bracketed disarmament weapons of mass destruction of international terrorism in justifying the approach he was taken to iraq in 2003, february for the civil he said the stance of the world takes now against saddam is not justifiable in its own right is a huge test of seriousness in dealing with a twin threat of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. now iraq had been hitherto have been classified as a country from which iran was getting international terrorism. were you concerned at the way the prime minister was as one witness put it completing these two issues? >> i would have been concerned if he had been planning which he wasn't and i've made that clear i

you worked for mr. blairfrom 1994 until you announced your resignation on the 29th of august, 2003. did that make you by 2003 the longest-serving of his close advisors? >> no. i'm trying to remember when jonathan powell arrived. i think he was just after me. there were certainly people in downey street who had been around before i joined tony blair's team. >> you were effectively on the team you and jonathan powell were two long-serving advisors. now, in the period 2001 to 2003, which we're looking at this morning, you as the chairman said were the prime minister's director of communications of strategy. that's a very broad job description. what was your actual role? >> how i would define it is that my job is to work with the prime minister in particular but also other ministers and officials to help devise and implement communication strategies for the government and the prime minister both in relation to overall direction and objectives and also in relation to specific issues as they arose. that's how i wou

mr. tony blair. this is the second part of his testimony on the iraq war investigation. it's about two hours and 20 minutes. >> let's resume the questioning, and sir roderick? >> i just like to talk very briefly about the military campaign itself before i think sir lawrence wants to get into the more specialized assets of that aspect. basically, the campaign went extraordinarily well. was over much quicker than anticipated. is that right the? >> i think so, yes. i mean, i think extraordinary combination of very high technology and basic successful soldiery. >> was part of the reason it went so fast was the other side put up less of a fight that had been expected? >> i think the planning for what was described by the americans was in effect based warfare was very successful. they were able to target with astonishing precision the enemy to the extent that quite quickly large number some iraqi soldiers in various places simply went home. had the coalition's military intelligence about the enemy turned out to be accurate? >> not entirely, because i was certainly led to belie

blair house down. mike was disturbed, as was mrs.n, when she heard that a chandelier had fallen on a bed while the tunisian president was in residence -- and while the tunisian president was in residence, the boiler had blown up. that was enough. also, it was not looking very good. it was looking bad. before the restoration, the money had to be approved by the government every year. congress did not want to fund it at all. senator abner, who was the head of the committee was being so negative about it, said, i don't understand why you have to spend all that money to build an old house. what he just tearing down and build a new house? i said, over my dead body. finally, we worked around it. i was grateful to the senator he was able to really get it through. but there was a very interesting stipulation. the money was to be used for bridge and mortar, the new addition, all of that, but not one cent to be allocated for decorating. what does that mean? obviously, we had to raise it. . >> this was the private quarters for the president, th

mr. brennan praising several top officials. put them on the screen. secretary napolitano, intelligence chief blair, c.i.a. director panetta.uestion, have you lost question in any of those? >> well, i work very closely with leon panetta and admiral blair. i think, i think they're doing the best job they can. the problem with the director of national intelligence denny blair, he has all of the responsibility and not enough authority. i voted against the bill because he does not have the ability to control all the elements of the i.c. i have not worked with secretary napolitano, but when she said that the terrorist act should be called a man-caused disaster, or when she said recently the system worked perfectly, i think it raised a lot of eyebrows, but those statements, misstatements are certainly not grounds to relieve her. i think we need to find out what really happened. >> chris: finally, i want to talk with you as i did with mr. brennan about politics. former vice president cheney and a number of top republicans have really gone after this administration for its response after christmas day and suggested this is another

mr. obama has called a face-to-face meeting with top officials set for tuesday at the white house. among the attendees, director of national intelligence, dennis blair, homeland security secretary janet napolitano, as well as leaders of the tsa and the national counterterrorism center, all formed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and all created to avoid just the kind of human and systemic failures that almost led to a christmas catastrophe in the skies over detroit. >> they should all be in the hot seat. this is ludicrous. i think there should be some action taken to correct this. there was a lack of accountability in the system. >> reporter: and late this afternoon, a warning from a top counterterrorism official -- al qaeda continue to redefine their methods to test our defenses and pursue an attack on the homeland. on the case of republican charges that mr. obama has deemphasized fighting terror, today the president hit back. >> of all of the partners we disrupted terrorist financing, cut off recruiting chains and lifted major losses on al qaeda leadership, thwarted plots here in the united states and saved countless american lives. >> reporter: an

mr. obama has called a face-to-face meeting with top officials, set for tuesday at the white house. among the attendees, director of national intelligence, dennis blaireland security secretary, janet napolitano, as well as leaders of the tsa and the national counterterrorism center, all formed in the wake of 9/11 attacks and all created to avoid just the kind of human and systemic failures that almost led to añju)áuspj catastrophe in the skies over detroit. >> they should all be in the hot seat. i mean, this is ludicrous. i think there should be some action taken to correct this. there was a lack of accountability in the system. >> reporter: and late this afternoon, a warning from a top counterterrorism official. al qaeda continued to refine their methods to test our defenses and pursue an attack on the homeland. in the face of republican charges that mr. obama has de-emphasized fightingxd terror the president hit back. >> along with our partners, we've disrupted terrorists' financing, cut off recruiting chains, inflicted major losses on al qaeda's leadership, thwarted plots here in the united states, and saved countless american lives. >> and that w

mr. obama has called a face-to-face meeting with top officials set for tuesday at the white house. among the attendees, director of national intelligence, dennis blair, homeland security secretary janet napolitano as well as leaders of the tsa and the national counterterrorism center. all agencies formed in the wake of the 9/11 attack and all created to avoid just the kind of human and systemic failure that say almost led to a christmas catastrophe in the skies over detroit. >> they should all be in the hot seat. this is ludicrous. i think there should be some action taken to correct this. there was a lack of accountability in the system. >> reporter: and there is this warning from a top u.s. counterterrorism official. al qaeda continues to remain their methods to test our defenses and pursue an attack on the homeland. and in the face of republican charges that mr. obama has deemphasized fighting terror, now the president is hitting back. >> we've disrupted terrorists' financing, cut off recruiting chains, inflicted major losses on al qaeda's leadership, thwarted plots here in the united states and saved countless american lives. >> reporter: and, j

mr. judge, can you please unsealed this but it happens routinely in the case of an opponent to a liberal democrat so blairealed and of course divorce records as i say in the book something said by an angry spells ayn divorce filing. they are not known as truth or angry partisan folk. you never know what the truth is. that is not what the purpose of divorce court is. people know that there are routinely laws in divorce cases but first to get the blair hold the force. obama winds the primary, then album is facing an incredibly tragic republican candidates, jack ryan stunningly good looking went through dartmouth, harvard business school worked for goldman sachs made hundreds of millions of dollars and left it all to teach and in inner cities call on chicago. rock-solid catholic, fantastic and even though this is illinois he was running to place a seat being vacated by peter fitzgerald republican, so ryan probably would have beaten obama but once again luckily for obama his opponent was divorced from a hollywood actress and she claimed, so they fly out to california the media, it was the custody records beca

mr. judge, can you please unsealed this? it happens routinely in the case of an opponent to a liberal democrat so blair hull's divorce recordsere unsealed and divorce records as i say in the book is true is something said by an angry spells and a divorce filing. they are not and we partisan bald then you never know what the truth is. that is not the purpose of divorce court to find the truth, it is to get the divorced and. people know there are routinely lies but first to get the blair hull's record, so they blair whole false behind an obama wins the primary. benno bum is facing an incredibly attractive republican candidates. jack ryan stunningly good looking, went to dartmouth, harvard law school, worked for goldman sachs, made hundreds of millions of dollars and left adel to teach in an inner-city school in chicago, rock-solid catholic, fantastic and even though this is illinois running to replace a seat vacated by peter fitzgerald, a republican. ryan probably would have been obey obeyed but luckily for obama his opponent was divorced from a hollywood actress and she claimed, so they fly to california, the media. it was th

this is the first time, mr. blair is appearing before us and we are currently holding our first round of public hearings. we shall be holding further hearings later in the year when we can return to subjects we wish to explore further. if necessary we can speak to mr. blair again. today's session covers six years of defense or complex and controversial. it would be impossible to do them all justice in the time we have available today. the committee is therefore made the decision to center its questioning on a number of specific areas. if necessary we shall come back to other issues at a later date. we plan to focus our questions, first, on the evolution of strategy towards iraq up to 2,002, including key meetings such as those with president bush in april and september 2002 as well as complex diplomatic process at the united nations. we will then look at how the policy was presented to parliament and the british people. it will be followed or the later stages of diplomacy and early 2003. we will then move to the plann