Newly released UK government files reveal that a senior US official warned his British counterparts that US president George W. Bush thought he was “on a mission from God” during the second Iraq war.
The declassified documents reported by The Telegraph involve a conversation between then US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage and UK ambassador to Washington David Manning in April 2004 regarding the ongoing battle in Fallujah.
Armitage said that Bush initially “wanted to kick ass” with US Marines taking the entire city.
But after being warned that such a move could bring down the Iraqi government, ‘Bush backed off,” Manning wrote.
“Rich [Armitage] summed it all up by saying that Bush still thought he was on some sort of a mission from God, but that recent events had made him ‘rather more sober,’” the report says.
Armitage reportedly asked Manning to have UK prime minister Tony Blair exert a moderating influence on Bush.
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