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12.1  |  Security Sector Reform
The US approach to Transition Teams
A Report to Congress on 29 August 2006 stated that “more than 160” Police Transition
Teams (PTTs) were helping to develop the IPS.822 International Police Liaison Officers
(IPLOs) were integrated into PTTs, providing expertise in all technical aspects of criminal
investigation and police station management. The Report stated that an additional five
(US) Military Police companies were deployed in July 2006 to bolster the PTT programme.
The next Report on 30 November stated there were 177 PTTs, each team with
11‑15 members: three or four IPLOs, hired as contractors from US State Department and
the rest typically military personnel (often Military Police).823
A Report to Congress on 2 March 2007 stated that there were a total of around
6,000 international advisers in more than 450 Transition Teams.824 The Transition Teams
were established in the following proportions:
200 Police Transition Teams;
40 National Police Transition Teams;
30 Border Transition Teams;
170 Military Transition Teams; and
Transition Teams in various ministries and command establishments including
the MOI, IMOD and the JHQ.825
Even with the extra personnel, shortages of PTTs were limiting observation of the IPS in
13 of the 18 provinces, including Basra and Maysan.826 The DoD’s Report to Congress in
March 2007 cited cost and risk to personnel as the reasons for limited coverage.827
Concerns about strategy
858.  In his weekly update on 2 February 2005, Maj Gen Riley wrote:
“IPS reform is a problem wider and deeper than the Army, and the incoming Chief
Police Adviser will be key to turning them into an effective counter insurgency force
… there is a proposal to send the new Chief Police Adviser to Baghdad instead of
here … I would advise against this in the strongest possible terms: this will lead to
a delay of months (probably) in police reform here, months that we do not need. UK
can have the greatest effect here on the ground …”828
859.  On 17 March, Lt Gen Fry produced a paper for the Chiefs of Staff examining
the consequences of “the UK’s MND(SE)‑centric strategy” and the likelihood that ISF
development in MND(SE) would progress faster than elsewhere in Iraq.829 The Chiefs
822  Report to Congress, 29 August 2006, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq.
823  Report to Congress, 30 November 2006, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq.
824  Report to Congress, 2 March 2007, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq.
825  These are approximate figures, estimated by the Inquiry based on available data.
826  Report to Congress, 29 August 2006, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq.
827  Report to Congress, 2 March 2007, Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq.
828  Report Riley, 2 February 2005, ‘CG MND(SE) – Southern Iraq Update – 2 February 2005’.
829  Minute DCDS(C) to COS, 17 March 2005, ‘Iraq – Strategic Consequences for UK of Iraqi Self Reliance’.
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