US war plan feared shows secret documents

The British Government believed America was preparing a lightning war in the Middle East to end the 1973 oil crisis to include an invasion of Kuwait, 17 years ahead of Saddam Hussein, according to secret documents released yesterday.

The Joint Intelligence Committee, the top secret body that acts as the link between the intelligence services and Downing Street, warned the then prime minister, Edward Heath, that Washington was drawing up battle plans to seize oil fields in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait to secure the Western economies.

Officials in Whitehall said that the United States, fearful that the Arab countries were rapidly realising the effectiveness of using oil as a weapon, was ready to flex its military muscle in the Middle East without the prior agreement of its allies.