Latest news with #GeorgeWBush
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
New UK records reveal Bush viewed Iraq war as a ‘crusade'
LONDON: A series of released records in the UK have revealed that President George W. Bush viewed the Iraq war as a 'crusade.' Cabinet Office papers made public on Tuesday show Bush considered the US 'God's chosen nation' tasked with ridding the world of 'evil-doers,' including Saddam Hussein. Sir Christopher Meyer, the UK's ambassador to Washington, wrote in December 2002 in a diplomatic cable to Whitehall: 'More than anything else, he (Bush) fears another catastrophic terrorist attack on the homeland, especially one with an Iraqi connection.' He added: 'His view of the world is Manichean. He sees his mission as ridding it of evil-doers. He believes American values should be universal values. He finds the Europeans' differentiation between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein self-serving. 'He is strongly allergic to Europeans collectively. Anyone who has sat round a dinner table with low-church Southerners will find these sentiments instantly recognisable.' In January 2023, Sir Tony Blair met with Bush in the US to urge him to use diplomacy, but Sir Christopher wrote Jan. 29: 'It is politically impossible for Bush to back down from going to war in Iraq this spring, absent Saddam's surrender or disappearance from the scene.' On Jan. 30, Sir David Manning, a UK foreign policy adviser, told Sir Tony to warn Bush that a UN resolution was 'politically essential for the UK, and almost certainly legally essential as well.' Sir David told Condoleezza Rice, Bush's secretary of state, that an invasion of Iraq without one could bring down the Labour government, and that 'the US must not promote regime change in Baghdad at the price of regime change in London.' He added in a message to Sir Tony: 'I said that Bush could afford to gamble. He wanted a second resolution but it was not crucial to him. He already had congressional authority to act unilaterally. This was quite different from the situation you were facing. 'Condi acknowledged this but said that there came a point in any poker game when you had to show your cards. I said this was fine for Bush. He would still be at the table if he showed his cards and lost. You would not.' The cables also reveal other aspects of Sir Tony's time in office, including a birthday message from Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2001. 'Dear Tony,' the message read, 'accept my sincere congratulations on your birthday and heartfelt wishes of good health, happiness, success and well being to you and your family. 'With great warmth I recollect our last meeting in Stockholm, I am convinced that regular contacts between us will further facilitate the development of Russian-British relations, strengthening international security and stability.' Other revelations include a thorny diplomatic incident, when former French President Jacques Chirac had spoken in private to Sir Tony about Clare Short, the international development secretary, to complain she was 'viscerally anti-French and insupportable.' In an effort to improve relations with Chirac, UK officials also considered purchasing a map of Afghanistan for Chirac denoting British military failures in the country for 'a laugh' for his birthday in November 2001.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump to pull America out of UNESCO once again
The United States will again pull out of the U.N.'s educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias, only two years after rejoining. This will be the third time that the United States leaves UNESCO and the second time during a Trump administration. President Donald Trump had already pulled out during his first term and the United States returned after a five-year absence after the Biden administration applied to rejoin the organization. The decision will take effect at the end of December 2026. The move is a blow to the Paris-based agency, founded after World War Two to promote peace through international cooperation in education, science, and culture. Trump took similar steps during his first term, quitting the World Health Organization, the U.N. Human Rights Council, a global climate change accord and the Iran nuclear deal. Joe Biden reversed those decisions after taking office in 2021, returning the U.S. to UNESCO, the WHO and the climate agreement. UNESCO is best known for designating World Heritage Sites, including the Grand Canyon in the United States and the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria. The United States initially joined UNESCO at its founding in 1945 but withdrew for the first time in 1984 in protest against alleged financial mismanagement and perceived anti-U.S. bias, returning almost 20 years later in 2003 under President George W. Bush, who then said the agency had undertaken needed reforms. UNESCO's full name is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The United States provides about 8% of UNESCO's total budget, down from about 20% at the time Trump first pulled the United States out of the agency.
Daily Mail
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
President George W Bush 'feared Saddam Hussein would attempt his own version of 9/11 terror attacks', newly declassified records reveal
President George W Bush was desperate to topple Saddam Hussein amid fears he might orchestrate a repeat of the 9/11 terror attacks, newly declassified records reveal. Private remarks from the US President in the months leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq underlined his commitment to 'ridding (the world) of evil-doers', according to the UK's ambassador in Washington. Sir Christopher Meyer said Americans broadly trusted President Bush's decision making on foreign policy, even if, in late 2002, the public were 'not keen to go to war with Saddam'. Documents released to the National Archives in Kew hint at Tony Blair 's initial reluctance to invade Iraq on the basis of Iraqi tyrant Hussein's claim that it had destroyed its WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). And the Ministry of Defence (MOD) also warned there would be 'significant levels of internecine violence' in the aftermath of any invasion. The UK joined the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, leading to Hussein being ousted, with images memorable of jubilant Iraqis toppling a statue of their overthrown former president in Baghdad. But an inquiry led by Sir John Chilcott later found Mr Blair's case for invasion was not justified, and that Hussein posed no imminent threat. Mr Blair stood by the decision to go to war - which many perceive to have tainted his modernist legacy - but apologised for mistakes made. The newly released documents show Sir Christopher, the UK's man in Washington, told Downing Street in December 2002 about President Bush's intentions - and his binary philosophy of good and evil. He wrote in an end-of-year dispatch: 'If Bush decides to invade Iraq in 2003, as looks increasingly likely, it will make or break his presidency. 'Much of the impulse for deposing Saddam Hussein comes from Bush himself. More than anything else he fears another catastrophic terrorist attack on the homeland, especially one with an Iraqi connection. 'His view of the world is Manichean. He sees his mission as ridding it of evil-doers.' The files also reveal how Mr Blair had travelled to Camp David in January 2003 to urge President Bush to allow more time for diplomacy work. But Sir Christopher warned it had become 'politically impossible' to draw back from war at this stage unless Hussein surrendered.
Sky News
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News
President Bush determined to 'rid world of evil-doer Saddam Hussein', new records reveal
It would have been "politically impossible" to stop President Bush from invading Iraq, as he believed he was on a "crusade against evil", new records show. Newly declassified UK government files show Sir Tony Blair was warned by his US ambassador that George W Bush was determined to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein, in the months before the invasion of Iraq. Sir Tony, who was prime minister at the time, was trying to encourage the US president to use diplomatic means to change the situation in the Middle Eastern country, and flew to Camp David in January 2003 to make the case, just two months before the joint US-UK invasion. The UK government was also hoping the United Nations Security Council would agree a new resolution specifically authorising the use of military force against Iraq. But the files, made public for the first time, show that Sir Tony's ambassador, Sir Christopher Meyer, warned him it would be "politically impossible" to sway Mr Bush away from an invasion unless Hussein surrendered. The documents, released by the National Archives at Kew in west London, show Sir Christopher also wrote that Mr Bush believed himself to be on "a crusade against evil to be undertaken by God's chosen people". Sir Tony's foreign policy adviser, Sir David Manning, told the PM that when he met Mr Bush, he should make the point that a new diplomatic resolution was "politically essential for the UK, and almost certainly legally essential as well". But the White House was becoming increasingly impatient at the unwillingness of France and Russia - both of whom held a veto - to agree a resolution so long as UN inspectors were unable to find any evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, the supposed justification for war. Sir Christopher warned Sir Tony shortly before his visit to see Mr Bush in January 2003 that options for a peaceful solution in Iraq had effectively run out. He wrote: "It is politically impossible for Bush to back down from going to war in Iraq this spring, absent Saddam's surrender or disappearance from the scene. "If Bush had any room for manoeuvre beforehand this was closed off by his State of the Union speech. "In the high-flown prose to which Bush is drawn on these set-piece occasions, he said in effect that destroying Saddam is a crusade against evil to be undertaken by God's chosen people." In a cable sent the previous month, Sir Christopher said that much of the impulse for deposing Hussein was coming from the president, a born-again Christian, who was scornful of what he saw as the "self-serving" reservations of the Europeans. "His view of the world is Manichean. He sees his mission as ridding it of evil-doers. He believes American values should be universal values," Sir Christopher stated. "He is strongly allergic to Europeans collectively. Anyone who has sat round a dinner table with low-church Southerners will find these sentiments instantly recognisable." In the end, Sir Tony and Mr Bush abandoned efforts to get a new Security Council resolution, blaming French President Jacques Chirac for refusing, and launched the invasion of Iraq anyway. Lobbying from Mandelson and anger at the French Among the new files, there are also a number of other revelations. These include: Current UK ambassador to the US, Sir Peter Mandelson, was so desperate to get back into government following his second resignation from Sir Tony's government that he asked Lord Birt, a policy adviser to Downing Street, to write to the prime minister in 2003, asking for him to receive a role - four months before Sir Peter was appointed as the UK's next European commissioner Sir Tony was furious at French president Jacques Chirac's efforts to undermine pressure being put on Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe by the UK in 2003, over growing violence caused by a policy of driving the remaining white farmers from their lands in the African nation The prime minister also insisted on changing the rules around which parties can lay wreaths at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday in a bid to protect the Northern Irish peace process in 2004, despite warning this could create an "adverse reaction" from the SNP and Plaid Cymru
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
George Bush was determined to ‘rid world of evil-doer Saddam Hussein'
Britain's ambassador warned that President George W Bush was bent on the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as part of a 'mission' to rid the world of 'evil-doers', according to newly released government files. In January 2003 – two months before US and UK forces launched their fateful invasion – Tony Blair to flew to Camp David to urge the president to allow more time for diplomacy to work. However, files released to the National Archives at Kew, west London, show that Britain's ambassador to the US, Sir Christopher Meyer, warned it had become 'politically impossible' to draw back from war unless Hussein surrendered. British officials were still hoping that the the United Nations Security Council would agree a new resolution specifically authorising the use of military force against Iraq. Mr Blair's foreign policy adviser, Sir David Manning, said that when he met the president he should make the point that a new resolution was 'politically essential for the UK, and almost certainly legally essential as well'. However, the Americans were becoming increasingly impatient with the unwillingness of France and Russia – which both had a veto on the council – to agree a resolution so long as UN inspectors were unable to find any evidence of Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, the supposed justification for war. Following Mr Bush's annual State of the Union address to Congress, shortly before Mr Blair's visit, he warned that the options for a peaceful solution had effectively run out. 'It is politically impossible for Bush to back down from going to war in Iraq this spring, absent Saddam's surrender or disappearance from the scene' he wrote. 'If Bush had any room for manoeuvre beforehand this was closed off by his State of the Union speech. 'In the high-flown prose to which Bush is drawn on these set-piece occasions, he said in effect that destroying Saddam is a crusade against evil to be undertaken by God's chosen people.' In a cable sent the previous month, Sir Christopher said that much of the impulse for deposing Hussein was coming from the president, a born-again Christian, who was scornful of what he saw as the 'self-serving' reservations of the Europeans. 'His view of the world is Manichean. He sees his mission as ridding it of evil-doers. He believes American values should be universal values,' Sir Christopher wrote. 'He is strongly allergic to Europeans collectively. Anyone who has sat round a dinner table with low-church Southerners will find these sentiments instantly recognisable.' In the event, the US and UK abandoned their efforts to get agreement on a new Security Council resolution, claiming French president Jacques Chirac had made it clear he would never agree.
