UK questioned US ‘control’ over its Iraq tactics one year into invasion

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The UK government has questioned US control over its military operations in Iraq 13 months into the war, newly released documents show, highlighting frustration with the Blair government’s most important ally.

Document, published by Cabinet Office On Tuesday, there were internal briefings prepared for then-prime minister Tony Blair that raised concerns about whether the US had a grip on attack strategy.

“The prime minister may want to ask Bush if there is proper political control over the military operation,” the document said.

The briefings that preceded the meeting with President George W. Bush on April 16, 2004, also revealed that Britain believed that “too many military officers [were] Hard to talk to US audiences.

The revelations reveal the UK government’s growing frustration with the US after the first battle of Fallujah began on April 4, leading to a victory for Iraqi insurgents.

Blair’s decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq damaged his approval ratings and led to pressure within the party for him to resign. In 2007, Blair stepped down as Labor leader after 10 years as Prime Minister.

A separate document sent to Number 10 from the UK embassy in Washington after the first week of the war revealed that then US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told the British ambassador that Bush wanted to “kick some ass” in Fallujah. .

But, it added, “faced with a dose of reality” that his actions could bring down the Iraqi government, Bush was forced to back down.

The paper said Armitage believed that Bush “still thought he was on some kind of mission from God in Iraq” and expressed his opinion that the US was “slowly losing the battlefield” and had “no coherent strategy” for operations.

He then urged the British to argue with Bush that the United Nations must play an important role in establishing a political process in the country.

Before his meeting with Bush, Blair was briefed by officials that Fallujah “did not show the American plan at its best”, including American strategy being “clumsy” and their “public declarations”. [having] Raised the temperature”, making the situation worse.

The British hoped to get private agreement at the meeting that the US approach “needs to be more measured” because it is “losing political capital” for both governments.

The documents also reveal that UK officials believed that US coalition management had “never been better” since the start of the war.

The papers noted that the United States believed that the Polish, Spanish and Ukrainian governments had “let down sides”. The British also expressed their own frustrations with Ukraine for its lack of support for the war effort.

The “coalition of the willing” was formed in early 2003 before the decision to invade Iraq on 20 March. At its peak, it included 49 countries.

The documents came ahead of a planned political transition on June 30, in which the Iraqi Interim Government took control of the country from the established Governing Council.

The conflict ended in 2011 after a long insurgency by militant groups that toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The Cabinet Office and Armitage declined to comment.