policy still permitted the Canadian government to participate in the invasion if China or Russia vetoed a resolution that was supported by the rest of the UNSC. The Canadian government maintained this position in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq. During the lead-up to the conflict, Chrétien maintained contact with Ricardo Lagos, the president of Chile, and Vicente Fox, the president of Mexico. Lagos and Fox had noted they were under pressure from the United States to join the coalition, although both told Chrétien that they would refuse to participate if Canada does so as well. The decision by the UN on whether or not to sanction the invasion rested on two elements, a discussion of international law, including the Nuremberg Principles on preemptive war; and the UN inspections for Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). However, because the coalition failed to have the UN sanction their intervention, Chrétien advised Governor General Adrienne Clarkson not to have Canada join the "coalition of the willing" that was central to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 17 March 2003, two days before the invasion of Iraq began, Chrétien publicly announced his decision to not join the coalition on the floor of the Canadian House of Commons. His decision to not privately inform the US government before he publicly announced his decision contributed to breakdown in Bush and Chrétien's relationship in mid-2003. Domestic opinion By August 2002, Canadian officials held no doubts that the United States was planning on targeting Iraq. On 14 August 2002, Chrétien received a memorandum from Alex Himelfarb, the clerk of the Canadian privy council where he bluntly states that US actions against Iraq were an attempt to implement regime change. The majority of the members of the Cabinet of Canada had little general knowledge of Iraq, although most were sceptical of the American cause. However, some cabinet members held concerns that not joining the coalition would damage Canada-US relations because American rhetoric had linked Iraq to the vital interests of the United States. However, during the lead-up to the war, Chrétien did not take a count of opinions with the entire Cabinet over joining the coalition, instead having only really consulted key members within the cabinet, including John McCallum, the Canadian minister of national defence and Bill Graham, the Canadian minister of foreign affairs. During this period, he also consulted key diplomats including Michael