![Politics with Bill Casey [wordmark]](https://billcasey.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/politics_w_bill_casey_fira.png)
Second Gulf war, March, 2003
As critic for Foreign Affairs for the Progressive Conservative Party, I was continually surprised at events that unfolded before me. I am grateful that I had a chance to experience many of those surprises.
Starting on October 1, 2002, as Foreign Affairs Critic, I raised the issue in parliament of the impending war in Iraq over weapons of mass destruction. On January 29, 2003, I followed up with comments in parliament that a war could be avoided if weapons inspections could continue after the United Nations Weapons Inspector, Hans Blix had decided to end his search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He had not found any, but he felt that it was no longer safe to be in Iraq.
My parliamentary comments were simply that there are other global organizations which could take up the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It appeared that as long as weapons inspections were underway, the U.S. and others would hold off attacking.
Then came the surprise.
Apparently, the Embassy of Iraq in Canada was watching remarks made in our parliament. After my comments, I was contacted by associates of the Embassy of Iraq in Ottawa and asked to come to the Iraqi Embassy to explain my proposal on how to avoid a war.
A couple of days after meetings with the acting Ambassador, Mamdouh Mustafa, I was asked to go to Iraq and meet senior government officials about my theory on engaging replacement weapons inspectors. My ideas weren’t complicated or unique, but some Iraqi officials wanted other senior Iraqi leaders to hear my theory about replacement weapons inspectors.
I accepted the invitation to go to Iraq to meet senior officials. For back-up, advice, and translation, I asked former Canadian Ambassador to Cuba, Mark Entwistle, and University of Ottawa Professor Saad Kiryakos to come with me. Shortly, tickets arrived from the Iraqi Embassy for our travel to Iraq.
Our route found us landing in Damascus, Syria where we were provided a Chevrolet Suburban and driver to travel across the Syrian Desert to Baghdad, Iraq. As we rolled along at top speed, we often encountered sand drifts across the highway exactly like snow drifts, but harder. There was very little traffic.
We crossed the Euphrates River and passed through Fallujah. Then, through Abu Ghraib and detoured over the Tigres River into Baghdad. It took eight hours of hard driving through the Syrian Desert to get from Damascus to Baghdad.
We were booked into the Al Rashid Hotel in the centre of Baghdad. As we were going in the front door, there on the floor was a permanent tile mosaic picture of President George H Bush. Underneath Mr. Bush was inscribed in tile Bush is Criminal. Each time we entered or left the hotel, we had to step over this picture of President Bush. Each time, I tried to sidestep his image.
The second morning, we were escorted to the Iraq Republican Palace Government Office Building, where we met with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, Trade Minister Mohammed Mahdi Saleh, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Information Minister Mohammad Saeed al Sahhaf. Minister al Sahhaf would soon become known as Baghdad Bob because of his bizarre press briefings during the war that followed. At one point he announced that Iraq forces had the Americans surrounded, and the U.S. defeat was inevitable.
Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz came across as a very reasonable man and was interested in our recommendations to allow an alternative weapons inspectors to enter Iraq and pick up where Hans Blix and the United Nations inspectors left off. We had several meetings with other ministers, and I felt that we had made a positive impression. However, the final decision would be made by President (and Prime Minister) Saddam Hussein, and he was not convinced that the threat from the U.S. and Britain was serious.
We were aware that the Embassy of Canada in Baghdad had been closed for more than a decade, but we wanted to find it. We could not locate anyone who knew where it was until we found a former driver who worked for the Canadian Embassy. He took us to the building, which was on a side street. The building was closed off and had a wall around it. Obviously, nobody had been there for a long time. Strangely, when we decided to do a news conference outside of the former Canadian Embassy a few days later, someone came and cleaned it all up and straightened up the outdoor furniture.
We left Iraq without convincing their leaders to invite alternative weapons inspectors. I think that we had support from several ministers, but the final decision was not to invite alternate weapons inspectors into Iraq. It wasn t long before the United States, Great Britain, and the Coalition of the Willing attacked and defeated Iraq.
On our return home, I reported the details of our trip to my leader, Rt Hon Joe Clark, and to the Liberal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Bill Graham. Minister Graham suggested that I brief the United States Ambassador about our experiences in Iraq. By this time, the Canadian Government had not decided to participate in the Second Gulf War, and Minister Graham felt that this would indicate that we were still very interested in the issue.
On Minister Graham s advice, I contacted His Excellency Paul Cellucci, U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Coincidentally, both Ambassador Paul Cellucci and I where Pontiac Buick GMC car dealers before politics, which gave us a common denominator and level of comfort. Ambassador Cellucci listened intently but said that any effort by Iraq now was, Too little, too late. This was not the only time I met with Ambassador Cellucci, and I enjoyed our discussions very much.
On March 17, 2003, Prime Minister Chretien announced that Canada would not participate in an invasion of Iraq. He was not convinced that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
On March 20, 2003, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland invaded Iraq in a conflict sometimes called the Second Gulf War. The initial battles ended in 26 days, but the conflict persisted until 2011. No 'weapons of mass destruction" were ever found.
At least we tried.
Thanks for reading,
Bill
Starting on October 1, 2002, as Foreign Affairs Critic, I raised the issue in parliament of the impending war in Iraq over weapons of mass destruction. On January 29, 2003, I followed up with comments in parliament that a war could be avoided if weapons inspections could continue after the United Nations Weapons Inspector, Hans Blix had decided to end his search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He had not found any, but he felt that it was no longer safe to be in Iraq.
My parliamentary comments were simply that there are other global organizations which could take up the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It appeared that as long as weapons inspections were underway, the U.S. and others would hold off attacking.
Then came the surprise.
Apparently, the Embassy of Iraq in Canada was watching remarks made in our parliament. After my comments, I was contacted by associates of the Embassy of Iraq in Ottawa and asked to come to the Iraqi Embassy to explain my proposal on how to avoid a war.
A couple of days after meetings with the acting Ambassador, Mamdouh Mustafa, I was asked to go to Iraq and meet senior government officials about my theory on engaging replacement weapons inspectors. My ideas weren’t complicated or unique, but some Iraqi officials wanted other senior Iraqi leaders to hear my theory about replacement weapons inspectors.
I accepted the invitation to go to Iraq to meet senior officials. For back-up, advice, and translation, I asked former Canadian Ambassador to Cuba, Mark Entwistle, and University of Ottawa Professor Saad Kiryakos to come with me. Shortly, tickets arrived from the Iraqi Embassy for our travel to Iraq.
Our route found us landing in Damascus, Syria where we were provided a Chevrolet Suburban and driver to travel across the Syrian Desert to Baghdad, Iraq. As we rolled along at top speed, we often encountered sand drifts across the highway exactly like snow drifts, but harder. There was very little traffic.
We crossed the Euphrates River and passed through Fallujah. Then, through Abu Ghraib and detoured over the Tigres River into Baghdad. It took eight hours of hard driving through the Syrian Desert to get from Damascus to Baghdad.
We were booked into the Al Rashid Hotel in the centre of Baghdad. As we were going in the front door, there on the floor was a permanent tile mosaic picture of President George H Bush. Underneath Mr. Bush was inscribed in tile Bush is Criminal. Each time we entered or left the hotel, we had to step over this picture of President Bush. Each time, I tried to sidestep his image.
The second morning, we were escorted to the Iraq Republican Palace Government Office Building, where we met with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, Trade Minister Mohammed Mahdi Saleh, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Information Minister Mohammad Saeed al Sahhaf. Minister al Sahhaf would soon become known as Baghdad Bob because of his bizarre press briefings during the war that followed. At one point he announced that Iraq forces had the Americans surrounded, and the U.S. defeat was inevitable.
Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz came across as a very reasonable man and was interested in our recommendations to allow an alternative weapons inspectors to enter Iraq and pick up where Hans Blix and the United Nations inspectors left off. We had several meetings with other ministers, and I felt that we had made a positive impression. However, the final decision would be made by President (and Prime Minister) Saddam Hussein, and he was not convinced that the threat from the U.S. and Britain was serious.
We were aware that the Embassy of Canada in Baghdad had been closed for more than a decade, but we wanted to find it. We could not locate anyone who knew where it was until we found a former driver who worked for the Canadian Embassy. He took us to the building, which was on a side street. The building was closed off and had a wall around it. Obviously, nobody had been there for a long time. Strangely, when we decided to do a news conference outside of the former Canadian Embassy a few days later, someone came and cleaned it all up and straightened up the outdoor furniture.
We left Iraq without convincing their leaders to invite alternative weapons inspectors. I think that we had support from several ministers, but the final decision was not to invite alternate weapons inspectors into Iraq. It wasn t long before the United States, Great Britain, and the Coalition of the Willing attacked and defeated Iraq.
On our return home, I reported the details of our trip to my leader, Rt Hon Joe Clark, and to the Liberal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Bill Graham. Minister Graham suggested that I brief the United States Ambassador about our experiences in Iraq. By this time, the Canadian Government had not decided to participate in the Second Gulf War, and Minister Graham felt that this would indicate that we were still very interested in the issue.
On Minister Graham s advice, I contacted His Excellency Paul Cellucci, U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Coincidentally, both Ambassador Paul Cellucci and I where Pontiac Buick GMC car dealers before politics, which gave us a common denominator and level of comfort. Ambassador Cellucci listened intently but said that any effort by Iraq now was, Too little, too late. This was not the only time I met with Ambassador Cellucci, and I enjoyed our discussions very much.
On March 17, 2003, Prime Minister Chretien announced that Canada would not participate in an invasion of Iraq. He was not convinced that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
On March 20, 2003, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland invaded Iraq in a conflict sometimes called the Second Gulf War. The initial battles ended in 26 days, but the conflict persisted until 2011. No 'weapons of mass destruction" were ever found.
At least we tried.
Thanks for reading,
Bill