Tony Blair’s government discussed how to influence John Howard to commit Australian troops to Iraq | Australia news
Newly released files in the UK show Tony Blair’s government discussing how to “influence” John Howard about sending Australian troops to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
They also reveal that one of Howard’s own defense ministers told a Downing Street official that the Australian prime minister was “not keen” on sending troops to Afghanistan, and privately told the British leader that he should discuss the issue with Howard “to keep him focused on the need for Australia to contribute”.
UK Cabinet Office and Foreign Office files released by Britain’s national archives provide an insight into how the Blair government worked to flatter Australia’s Liberal party prime minister, who appeared equally keen on building a close relationship with the UK Labor prime minister.
This followed the re-election of the Howard Coalition in the 2004 federal election. A memo to key staff at Downing Street describing Blair’s congratulatory call to Howard on the day of the win said the UK leader praised it as “an incredible result and a tribute to Howard’s leadership”.
“Comment: an extremely warm call” was included in the letter.
Less than four months ago, a cable sent to Downing Street from the British High Commission in Canberra reported meetings with figures from the Australian government as the Howard government weighed sending troops to the UN protection force in Iraq.
“The timing of the prime minister’s meeting is perfect if we are to influence Howard’s decision,” one diplomat said, adding that a memo prepared for Blair before the meeting “strikes the right tone”.
Another internal memo to Downing Street later that year reported a meeting between Nigel Sheinwald, then Blair’s chief foreign policy adviser, and Howard’s defense secretary Robert Hill at a summit in Bahrain.
Hill had just returned from Iraq, where he inspected Australian troops, and the security situation was worse than he expected. Sheinwald took the opportunity to address the situation in Afghanistan, where there was a lack of NATO troop contributions, and told Hill that Britain would “welcome Australia’s assistance”.
The memo states: “Hill said this was a thorny political issue for his Government. Howard was not keen either. He recommended that the Prime Minister discuss this issue with Howard – in confidence – to keep him focused on Australia’s need to contribute.”
The following year, the focus was on persuading Australia to send hundreds of troops to Iraq.
A memo prepared for Blair before the meeting with Howard on 20 February 2005, at the request of the Australian leader, stated that the cabinet in Canberra would decide that week whether to send 450 soldiers to replace the Dutch contingent guarding a Japanese unit in Iraq’s Al Muthanna province.
“If the Australians don’t take this on, we will have to do it alone,” Blair’s private secretary David Quarrey wrote.
“The Australian Cabinet is likely to approve this request. But getting this far required a complex diplomatic dance. Howard wanted, for internal reasons, to be asked by the Japanese (and us) to deploy Australian forces.”
Referring to the Japanese prime minister, Quarrey added: “Koizumi was reluctant to make this request for his own internal reasons (and his preference for the UK over Australian protection of the Japanese).
“But we managed to get Koizumi to call Howard. And if Howard tells his cabinet on Tuesday that you also talked to him, then the deal should be done.”
Quarrey advised: “You don’t need to ask Howard to send Australian troops. But you should say that you would be very happy if his Cabinet agreed to send those troops.”
