Blair Urged Bush to Delay Iraq War as Tensions with France Escalated

Strategic Insights -

British Ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer wrote in a cable sent in January 2003 that US President George W Bush was driven by a "Manichean" view of the world, where evil must be eradicated, and that he saw himself on a mission to rid the world of "evil-doers". This view was said to be deeply rooted in his born-again Christian faith, which informed his interpretation of the world and his role in it. Britain's ambassador warned that it had become "politically impossible" to draw back from war unless Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein surrendered. The US and UK were struggling to get agreement on a new UN Security Council resolution, with France and Russia unwilling to back a resolution that would permit the use of force against Iraq without concrete evidence of its weapons of mass destruction.

Key Takeaways:

  • The US President George W Bush was driven by a "mission" to rid the world of "evil-doers", according to Sir Christopher Meyer, Britain's ambassador to the US.
  • Sir Christopher Meyer warned that it had become "politically impossible" to draw back from war unless Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein surrendered.
  • The US and UK were struggling to get agreement on a new UN Security Council resolution due to the unwillingness of France and Russia to agree to a resolution without evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
  • The Americans were becoming increasingly impatient with the Europeans' reservations, according to Sir Christopher Meyer, who described President Bush as being "scornful" of these reservations.
  • The US President George W Bush delivered his annual State of the Union address to Congress, in which he stated that the options for a peaceful solution had effectively run out.
  • The UK's Foreign Policy Adviser, Sir David Manning, wrote that a new UN Security Council resolution was "politically essential for the UK, and almost certainly legally essential" as well.

Statistics:

  • 74% of the workforce in the UK believed that Saddam Hussein's regime posed a threat to international security (Source: a Gallup poll cited in the article).
  • Only 21% of the UK population supported a military strike on Iraq, as reported in a YouGov poll on January 15, 2003.
  • 54% of the public believed that Prime Minister Tony Blair should not support a US-led invasion of Iraq, according to a YouGov poll on March 7, 2003.

Sources:

  • A cable sent by Britain's ambassador to the US, Sir Christopher Meyer, in January 2003, released by the National Archives.
  • The annual State of the Union address to Congress, delivered by President George W Bush, as reported in the article.
  • A YouGov poll on January 15, 2003, which reported that only 21% of the UK population supported a military strike on Iraq.
  • A Gallup poll cited in the article, which reported that 74% of the workforce in the UK believed that Saddam Hussein's regime posed a threat to international security.
  • A YouGov poll on March 7, 2003, which reported that 54% of the public believed that Prime Minister Tony Blair should not support a US-led invasion of Iraq.