Former US President George Bush believed he was on a ‘mission from God’ and wanted to ‘kick ass’ in Iraq before he realised the US was faring badly.
The insight into the former leader’s mind from the days of the Iraq War in 2003 was revealed by a senior American politician in new files released to the National Archives in Kew.
Richard Armitage, deputy to then Secretary of State Colin Powell, gave a blunt assessment of the regime’s chances of success in the Middle East.
He told the British ambassador to Washington, David Manning, that US military figures were ‘talking bull****’ when they said they could defeat insurgents.
He said some of the ideas were ‘politically crass’ but added ‘nevertheless Bush had been enthusiastic initially and had “wanted to kick ass”’.
This ended after he was warned that military action in Fallujah, Iraq, would lead to the collapse of the Governing Council and ‘faced with this “dose of reality”, Bush had backed off’.
The row came after the former US president famously declared ‘mission accomplished’ when Saddam Hussein was overthrown.
George Bush believed he was on a ‘mission from God’ and wanted to ‘kick ass’ in Iraq before realising the US was faring badly
Richard Armitage (pictured), then deputy secretary of state, had given a blunt assessment of chances of success in the Middle East
Company Irish Guards fire on Iraqi troop positions in southern Iraq in April 2003. The row came after the former US president famously declared ‘mission accomplished’ when Saddam Hussein was overthrown
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell. His deputy Mr Armitage told British diplomat David Manning that authorising additional troops to deal with battles in the region would be ‘politically ugly’ for Bush
The triumph proved short-lived as the country was engulfed in insurgency less than a year later, with violent battles in the region.
Mr Armitage told the British diplomat that authorising additional troops to deal with this would be ‘politically ugly’ for the president.
He added: ‘Rich summed it all up by saying that Bush still thought he was on some sort of mission from God but that recent events had made him “rather more sober”.’
Two weeks after the meeting, the US called off the offensive in Fallujah.
American troops remained in Iraq until 2011.