Tony Blair was urged to delay US invasion of Iraq, archives reveal

Times

22-07-2025

Tony Blair was advised to delay the invasion of Iraq, which George Bush saw as his 'mission' to rid the world of 'evildoers', according to newly released government files.
The prime minister flew to Camp David in January 2003, two months before the invasion, to urge the president of the United States to wait until at least March to allow for diplomatic solutions to work.
Recently released documents from the National Archives have revealed how government officials told Blair to slow down Bush, who was described as 'implacable', 'impatient' and 'Manichean' in his preparations.
Files from government officials between December 2002 to January 2003 recommended that Blair convince Bush to wait for either a 'smoking gun', indicating weapons of mass destruction were definitely in Iraq, or for the UN security council to agree on a resolution specifically authorising the use of military force.
The correspondence demonstrated the 'clear divergence between the UK and US' over the 'timetable for military action' described in the Chilcot inquiry in 2016.
On December 18, 2002, Christopher Meyer, the British ambassador to the US, sent an annual review to the prime minister's office from Washington.
He wrote: '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 evildoers. 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.'
Meyer added that although some groups such as 'conservative ideologues, Likud fellow-travellers' were pressing for war, this did not include 'the American people at large'.
'Apart from a single oil man in Houston, I failed to find anyone keen to go to war with Saddam. But most Americans trust Bush and will likely follow where he leads,' he wrote. These lines were highlighted.
In the new year, just two days before Blair's visit to Camp David and one day after Bush's state of the union address to the US Congress, on January 29, 2003, Meyer wrote again.
'The prime minister will find on Friday a pretty implacable Bush: impatient, deeply disillusioned with France and Germany, convinced that his — and Mr Blair's — critics will be routed by an early and easy military victory,' he said.
Meyer then referenced the Blair administration's desire for a second UN resolution from Hans Blix, the executive chairman of UN monitoring, verification and inspection commission.
'If the notorious smoking gun can be found, this will make things much easier. Otherwise, a sequence of fortnightly reports from Blix saying that the Iraqis are still not cooperating will be the next best thing,' he wrote.
'Bush does not look to have the patience to let Blix make the case. I said in an earlier report that exhausting the UN route was likely to mean different things in Washington and London. Bush is undecided about a second Resolution: whether it will be worth going for and, if it is, what should be put in it.'
The next day, January 30, foreign policy adviser David Manning wrote a note to the prime minister recapping his meeting with US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
'The argument is over timing. Bush still wants to rush his fences,' Manning wrote. 'You need to stick very strongly to the arguments in your Note and spell them out in a way that leaves no scope for Bush 'interpretation'.'
He later added: 'Unless we can be far more certain than we are now of securing a quick second resolution, you should stick to the late-March date. It is only eight weeks away, which is a pretty intense timetable anyway.'
Other notes from these months reveal how Blair was encouraged to turn down an invitation to give the commencement address at Harvard University in the summer of 2003.
Matthew Rycroft, Blair's private secretary on foreign affairs, wrote in January: 'You have said that you want to do this. Others in the office have argued against. You are seen as travelling abroad too much already and paying insufficient attention to domestic concerns.
'If you have a major speech to give, you should give it in the UK. And we do not know how things will stand in June. Yet another visit to the US may be untimely.'
Another email from the British embassy in Washington asked when Buckingham Palace put its Christmas lights up, as the White House wanted a photo of Bush at the building during his winter state visit in 2003.
In December 2002, Blair was also sent a copy of a New York Times article entitled 'Blair for President', suggesting he should be given a green card to run as the Democratic candidate.
The handwritten note on top reads, 'PM To cheer you up for xmas. I think a 'draft TB' movement will start now.'