12 Sep President Bush addresses the UN General Assembly, saying Saddam Hussein has systematically and continually violated 16 UNSCRs over the past decade, and calls upon the UN to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction
24 Sep British Government publishes comprehensive dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Prime Minister opens Parliamentary debate and acknowledges planning needs to take place
8 Nov UN Security Council unanimously adopts UNSCR 1441, declaring Iraq to be in material breach of past UNSCRs, creating a tougher UN weapons inspection regime and offering Baghdad a last chance to comply fully, immediately and unconditionally with its disarmament obligations, with "serious consequences" to follow if it did not do so
13 Nov Iraq indicates willingness to accept the return of weapons inspectors to the country under the terms of UNSCR 1441
18 Nov US approaches a number of countries, seeking support in the event that military action proves necessary
25 Nov House of Commons debate UNSCR 1441. Secretary of State for Defence announces that contingency planning is taking place for possible operations in Iraq
27 Nov Inspections resume in Iraq
7 Dec Iraq submits a 12,000 page declaration of its WMD programme to UN
18 Dec Secretary of State for Defence announces further contingency preparations, including approaching the shipping market to charter vessels
19 Dec Hans Blix's initial UNMOVIC report to the UN states that the Iraqi declaration falls some way short of what is required and may constitute a material breach. He subsequently says that the report contained no new information on the weapons programmes revealed by UNSCOM |