155. The Road to Iraq: How 9/11 Changed Everything (Ep 3)

The Rest Is Classified

Goalhanger

History

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2026

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How significant a role did 9/11 play in the decision to go to war in Iraq? And why did Tony Blair commit to standing by George W. Bush “no matter what”? Listen as David and Gordon continue their series on Iraq WMD, charting the moment the West’s relationship with the Middle East changed, forever. ------------------- THE REST IS CLASSIFIED LIVE 2026 at The Rest Is Fest: Buy your tickets ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see David and Gordon live on stage at London’s Southbank Centre on 4 September: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/the-rest-is-classified-live/⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------------------- Sign-up for our free newsletter where producer Becki takes you behind the scenes of the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mailchi.mp/goalhanger.com/tric-free-newsletter-sign⁠-up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------------------- Join the Declassified Club to go deeper into the world of espionage with exclusive Q&As, interviews with top intelligence insiders, regular livestreams, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, and weekly deep dives into original spy stories. Members also get curated reading lists, special book discounts, prize draws, and access to our private chat community. Just go to ⁠⁠therestisclassified.com⁠ or join on Apple Podcasts. ------------------- Get a 10% discount on business PCs, printers and accessories using the code TRIC10. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://HP.com/CLASSIFIED⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information. T&C's apply. ------------------- Email: ⁠⁠therestisclassified@goalhanger.com⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@restisclassified⁠ Video Editor: Joe Pettit Social Producer: Emma Jackson Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe Producer: Becki Hills Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series,
0:09.0	first look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter, and discounted books,
0:13.1	join the Declassified Club at the rest is classified.com.
0:17.3	Music Why did George W. Bush and Tony Blair decide to go to war with Iraq?
0:29.6	And why did the 9-11 attacks turn the Bush administration sites toward removing Saddam Hussein?
0:36.6	Well, welcome to the rest is classified. I'm David McCloskey.
0:39.7	And I'm Gordon Carrera.
0:40.8	And we are in our third episode of our six-part series exploring this incredibly fascinating and
0:49.9	tragic topic of Iraq WMD and the role that that intelligence played in the case for
0:59.1	invading Iraq in 2003.
1:01.4	Last time we had looked at this period of the 1990s when Iraq is under this inspections
1:06.8	regime and yet it has destroyed all of its chemical weapons and biological weapons,
1:13.3	its stockpiles, its programs, it has halted its nuclear program.
1:18.2	And Saddam Hussein has made the very interesting, shall we say, decision to essentially get
1:25.0	rid of all of his WMD and yet to keep that secret, not tell the UN inspectors,
1:31.1	not tell the Americans so that he can preserve deterrence in the region and make himself appear stronger
1:38.3	in the Middle East.
1:39.9	And so we have this kind of fateful clash that is coming here with a new U.S. administration
1:47.0	in power, the 9-11 attacks having happened.
1:51.0	And we're going to be looking at, in this episode, at the proximate run-up to why the U.S. decides to attack, Iraq, and importantly, why the UK follows.
2:08.6	This episode is brought you by HP. In intelligence work, it's rarely the obvious problem
2:14.8	that causes failure. It's the overlooked detail or the flaw nobody
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