Lord Wright of Richmond was head of the British Diplomatic Service from 1986 to 1991 and was previously Ambassador to Syria and Saudi Arabia.

I doubt Bush is ready to rule Mesopotamia By Patrick Wright

Those MPs who shouted "What's next?" during Prime Minister's Questions on Iraq on Wednesday may have been alarmed by Tony Blair's reference to North Korea in his reply. But I suspect that they were also disappointed, since they probably hoped for some indication that the Government is privy to Washington's real objectives in the Middle East, in pushing for an invasion of Iraq.

British ministers claim that their sole objective in sending our Armed Forces to the Gulf is to keep up the pressure on Saddam Hussein to deal honestly with the UN weapons inspectors on his alleged holdings of weapons of mass destruction, and that "no decisions have been taken". But you cannot find a serious figure in Washington who does not accept that President George W Bush's objective in Iraq is regime change.. .

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