Tony Blair’s advisers privately questioned if the US had “proper political control” of military operations in Iraq after a senior US official confided that George W Bush believed he was on a “mission from God” against Iraqi insurgents, newly released documents reveal.
Blair needed to “deliver some difficult messages” to the then US president for a “more measured approach” in April 2004, following a US military operation to suppress a major uprising in the city of Falluja, according to papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west London.
In a surprisingly candid conversation, recorded in a document marked “please protect very carefully”, Richard “Rich” Armitage, then US deputy secretary of state, told Sir David Manning, then UK ambassador, that Bush had needed a “dose of reality” after demanding US forces “kick ass” in Falluja, where US troops were engaged in a bloody battle with Iraqi militants after four private military contractors were ambushed and killed.
Armitage appealed to Blair to use his influence in a forthcoming visit to Washington on 16 April to urge Bush to deal with Falluja “as part of a carefully judged political process”.
The US had launched Operation Vigilant Resolve in Falluja after the mutilated bodies of the US contractors were hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River less than one year after the May 2003 overthrow of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Bush had initially been influenced by his military generals and “wanted to kick ass” with US marines occupying the city. But politicians on the coalition provisional authority, set up after Saddam’s fall, feared the US military response could damage hopes of establishing an independent Iraqi administration.
Bush backed off after being “faced with this ‘dose of reality’”, Manning reported back to No 10.
“Rich summed it all up by saying Bush still thought he was on some sort of mission from God. But that recent events had made him ‘rather more sober’.”
Bush had famously declared “mission accomplished” after the overthrow of Hussein by US and UK coalition forces. But the White House has previously dismissed as “absurd” reports that Bush privately told a Palestinian delegation in 2003 that God spoke to him and said: “George, go fight these terrorists in Afghanistan” and “George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq.”
Armitage dismissed claims by the overall US commander in Iraq, Gen John Abizaid, that he could put down the Falluja uprising within days as “bullshit” and “politically crass”. Armitage believed the US was “gradually losing on the battlefield” and that it was “inevitable” the administration would have to send more troops, which would be “politically ugly” for Bush, Manning reported.
No 10 was nervous about the US military response. A briefing document, ahead of Blair’s Washington visit in April 2004, said events in Falluja had “used up a great deal of the coalition’s political capital”.
“Publicly we will want to underline our continued commitment to seeing the task through, but privately we will need to deliver some difficult messages to Bush about the need for a more measured approach by the US military, under proper political oversight, and the need for a clear end to the occupation on July 1,” it said.
It added: “The prime minister might question Bush on whether there is proper political control of military operations,” and concluded: “In short, too many military officers talking tough to a US audience, with little attention to the effect on an Iraqi or regional audience.”
Blair’s foreign policy adviser, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, described the UK’s main concerns in a memo to the prime minister as “clumsy US handling”, “disproportionate US military tactics – what they did in Falluja looked on Iraqi TV screens to be a form of collective punishment” and “apocalyptic media treatment”.
The US lost 27 troops, while about 200 insurgents and 600 Iraqi civilians were thought to have been killed in Falluja at that time. Coalition forces took the city in a second offensive launched in November 2004. US troops remained in Iraq until 2011.
