
New UK records reveal Bush viewed 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.

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Arab News
17 hours ago
- Arab News
UK-EU migration progress welcome but more must be done
Two visits to London in consecutive weeks this month, first by French President Emmanuel Macron and then German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, were a clear demonstration that the UK and leading EU countries are absolutely determined to put the debacle of Brexit behind them and embark on a healing journey, one which will enable them to deal constructively with the common challenges and opportunities they encounter — and all in a cordial spirit. The visits and the agreements and understandings reached during the talks announced the return of the informal E3 group of France, Germany and the UK as the backbone and driving force of European security. All three leaders were keen to display unity, regardless of whether the UK is inside or outside the EU, stressing that it is important not to let the past hold back close UK-EU cooperation. One of the issues that dominated both visits, particularly Macron's, was of stopping, or at least substantially reducing, irregular migration, mainly the arrival of immigrants on small boats. According to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, about 37,000 people were detected crossing the English Channel in small boats last year. The first half of 2025 has seen an increasing number of people attempt this dangerous and costly journey, proving that the current deterrent measures hardly work. Tragically, the increase in the number of crossings also led to a record number of deaths — at least 82 people, including 14 children, in 2024. Migration is not a simple issue, not in terms of the reasons behind it, the legality of it or how it affects the countries of origin and destination. First, migration is a human trait — it has been part of humanity from the dawn of history and is done for economic, social, political and, increasingly, for environmental reasons. Without exploring and addressing these reasons, people will continue to look for routes to enter countries that promise them a safer and better life. Second, lumping together all the different types of migration muddles the public discourse. There are: economic migrants, which all European countries need; asylum seekers, who these countries have a moral and legal obligation to help; and those who are arriving for family reasons or to study. And, yes, there are those who arrive illegally. These are all different categories of migration that must be addressed according to their individual merits, while removing prejudices and biases against newcomers. Third, there is no escaping the fact that the discourse over migration has become toxic, divisive and fertile ground for right-wing parties and ultranationalist movements, which have no existence without it, and this endangers the stability of many societies and might lead to antimigration movements ascending to power. Lastly, it would be an illusion to believe that migration, especially the kind that most countries consider to be undermining their societies, can be stopped by legislation or by investing in better-equipped and more sophisticated border control forces without courageously investing in resolving the root causes. The 'one in, one out' migrant return deal agreed between the UK and France during Macron's visit is designed to serve as a deterrent to stop people from attempting to cross the Channel in small boats. The plan proposes that for each migrant the UK returns to France, another with a strong case for asylum in Britain will be allowed to come the other way. At this stage, it is unknown how many people will actually be sent away. And although those who are sent back to France will not be allowed to apply for asylum in the UK, one wonders how much of a deterrent this plan is. When more details surface, it will be possible to assess whether the number of migrants sent back justifies the cost and whether it can be scaled up when the pilot scheme comes to an end. But this does not, for instance, effectively deal with the smugglers who exploit the predicaments of those who are desperate enough to pay extortionate sums of money and risk their lives for a better future. Even going after the smugglers would not guarantee an end to small boat crossings, as it is too profitable a venture for more unscrupulous people not to take their place. A quick glance at the nationalities of those who attempted to reach the UK by boat between 2018 and 2024 reveals that 70 percent of them come from countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania, Syria and Eritrea. Fighting criminal gangs is necessary, but can provide only limited answers, as there is a demand for their services, and even securing borders and international cooperation cannot seal them hermetically. The discourse over migration has become toxic, divisive and fertile ground for right-wing parties and ultranationalist movements. Yossi Mekelberg Instead, there is a need to go beyond international cooperation and stopping irregular migration when the migrants are already en route or sending them back when they arrive. First, there must be an integral migration policy that promotes safe and orderly pathways and that establishes legal migration channels that meet the need for migration and the demand for it. But above all, the challenge — and the current record of the international community is not encouraging — is to solve the underlying political, economic, social and environmental problems that lead people to try and escape their countries of origin, whether temporarily or permanently. As long as domestic political instability, including wars, violence, oppression and corruption, is rife and there are no employment opportunities or access to basic needs, people will look for an escape route. A growing issue linked to migration is the worsening impacts of climate change. And the collective global neglect of this existential threat to humanity is bound to lead to more people attempting to escape hostile climate conditions. Programs like 'one in, one out,' as much as they are a welcome, proactive and cooperative move to stop irregular migration by small boats, do not go far enough. Only a holistic approach that recognizes the need for migration in the EU, that meets the drive for migration of those who embark on such journeys, legally and illegally, and, most importantly and drastically, that results in a substantial improvement of conditions in migrants' countries of origin can provide a chance to regulate migration to the benefit of all.


Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Trump Caps His Scottish Visit by Opening a New Golf Course
US President Donald Trump opened a new golf course bearing his name in Scotland on Tuesday, capping a five-day foreign trip designed around promoting his family's luxury properties and playing golf. 'Let's go. 1-2-3,' Trump said before he cut a red ribbon and fireworks popped to mark the official opening of the new Trump course in the village of Balmedie on Scotland's northern coast. 'This has been an unbelievable development,' Trump said before the opening. He thanked his son Eric for his work on the project, saying it was 'truly a labor of love for him.' Son Don Jr. also was present. Immediately after the opening, Trump, Eric Trump and two professional golfers in the foursome teed off on the first hole. They planned to play 18 holes before Trump returns to Washington. The overseas jaunt let Trump escape Washington's sweaty summer humidity. It was mostly built around golf — and walking the new course before it officially begins offering rounds to the public on Aug. 13. Billing itself the 'Greatest 36 Holes in Golf,' the Trump International Golf Links, Scotland, was designed by Eric Trump. The course is hosting a PGA Seniors Championship event later this week, after Trump leaves. Signs promoting the event had already been erected all over the course before he arrived on Tuesday, and, on the highway leading in, temporary metal signs guided drivers onto the correct road. Golfers hitting the course at dawn as part of that event had to put their clubs through metal detectors erected as part of the security sweeps ahead of Trump's arrival. Several dozen people, some dressed for golf, including wearing cleats, had filled the sand trap near the tee box to watch the ribbon-cutting ceremony shortly before it was scheduled to start. Another group of people were watching from the other side in tall grass growing on sand dunes flanking the first hole. Also from Scotland's north is the president's late mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born on the Isle of Lewis, immigrated to New York and died in 2000 at age 88. 'My mother loved Scotland,' Trump said during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday at another one of his golf courses, Turnberry, on Scotland's southern coast. 'It's different when your mother was born here.' Trump used his trip to meet with Starmer and reach a trade framework for tariffs between the US and the European Union's 27 member countries — though scores of key details remain to be hammered out. But the trip has featured a lot of golf, and having the president visit is sure to raise the new course's profile. Trump's assets are in a trust, and his sons are running the family business while he's in the White House. Visible from various parts of the new course were towering windmills lining the coast — some with blades that showed visible dots of rust. They are part of a nearby windfarm that Trump sued to block construction of in 2013. The new golf course will be the third owned by the Trump Organization in Scotland. Trump bought Turnberry in 2014 and owns another course near Aberdeen that opened in 2012. Trump golfed at Turnberry on Saturday as protesters took to the streets, and on Sunday. He invited Starmer, who famously doesn't golf, aboard Air Force One so the prime minister could get a private tour of his Aberdeen properties before Tuesday's ceremonial opening. 'Even if you play badly, it's still good,' Trump said of golfing on his course over the weekend. 'If you had a bad day on the golf course, it's OK. It's better than other days.' Trump also found time to praise Turnberry's renovated ballroom, which he said he'd paid lavishly to upgrade — even suggesting that he might install one like it at the White House. 'I could take this one, drop it right down there," Trump joked. 'And it would be beautiful.'


Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Democrats press Trump officials for ‘large-scale' effort to address Gaza starvation
WASHINGTON: Senate Democrats are imploring President Donald Trump's administration to step up its role in addressing suffering and starvation in Gaza, with more than three dozen senators signing onto a letter Tuesday urging the resumption of ceasefire talks and sharply criticizing an Israeli-backed American organization that had been created to distribute food aid. In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Republican president's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, the senators said the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, created in February with backing from the Trump administration, has 'failed to address the deepening humanitarian crisis and contributed to an unacceptable and mounting civilian death toll around the organization's sites.' It marked a mostly united plea from Senate Democrats — who are locked out of power in Washington — for the Trump administration to recalibrate its approach after the collapse of ceasefire talks last week. Trump on Monday expressed concern about the worsening humanitarian situation and broke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that people are not starving in the Gaza Strip. But it is unclear how Trump will proceed. Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii said it was 'not at all credible' to think the Israeli military — one of the most advanced in the world — is incapable of distributing food aid or performing crowd control. 'They made a choice to establish a new way of doing food distribution,' he said. 'And it's not working at all.' The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, calls for a 'large-scale expansion' of aid into Gaza channeled through organizations experienced working in the area. It also says efforts for a ceasefire agreement are 'as critical and urgent as ever.' The message was led by four Jewish members of the Democratic Caucus — Sens. Adam Schiff of California, Chuck Schumer of New York, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Schatz — and calls for the return of the roughly 50 hostages, 20 still believed to be alive, held by Hamas since its Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The 39 signatures on the letter show the extent to which Democrats have achieved some unity on a foreign policy issue that deeply divided them while they held the White House last year. They called for an end to the war that sees Hamas no longer in control of Gaza and a long-term goal of both an Israeli and a Palestinian state and opposed any permanent displacement of the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, Republicans are backing Trump's handling of the situation and supporting Israel. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was satisfied with Trump trying 'to referee that, but the Israelis need to get their hostages back.' Still, images of the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza seemed to be reaching some Republican members of Congress. Over the weekend, far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who routinely calls for an end to foreign aid, said on social media 'what has been happening to innocent people and children in Gaza is horrific. This war and humanitarian crisis must end!' For Schatz, it was a sign many Americans do care about suffering in other parts of the world, even after Trump won the election with 'America First' foreign policy goals and kickstarted his administration by demolishing US aid programs. 'They are seeing images of chaos, images of suffering that are either caused by the United States or at least could have been prevented by the United States,' Schatz said. 'And it is redounding negatively to the president.'