The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
authorities
to take action against those who abuse and represent a threat to
law and
order …
they should start with firm action against Jameat
personnel.”
951.
The immediate
next steps identified by Mr Hayes included to:
•
“Secure an
explicit undertaking from the Governor and (new) Chief
of
Police
that our
personnel will be able to operate in safety”;
•
“Get a
clear commitment from Baghdad politicians to grip the
South‑East”;
•
“Get
the Interior Minister to visit Basra, immediately”;
•
“Demonstrate
to the international community (in particular, the US)
that
we can handle
the situation” – while the
underlying problems in Basra were
“serious”,
they were “not new” and could be managed by the UK;
and
•
“Consider
the dispatch of
a senior UK police officer” to “audit
the police in
MND(SE)”.
952.
Amongst the
actions advised by Mr Hayes for the medium and longer term
were
that the UK
would need to ensure an “effective”
Chief of Police was in place (potentially
replacing
the incumbent with no party ties with one with “political clout”),
to redeploy
training
teams and allocate more resources.
953.
The paper also
cautioned: “we may not be able to deliver, by next year,
the
minimum
standards required in Rule of Law and governance.”
954.
In response,
Mr Blair agreed that there was no need to change the overall
strategy
but
Sir Nigel Sheinwald recorded in a letter on 4 October to
Mr Hayes:
“He
[Mr Blair] is convinced … that we need a major and sustained
push over the
next few
months on the political and security lines of operation if we are
to get what
we need –
the political process moving ahead on time and producing an
effective
and
moderate Iraqi Government after the elections, with visible
progress on the
Iraqiisation
of security.”895
955.
Mr Blair
agreed to a review to establish “whether our police training
strategy in the
South‑East
is working, and whether the national policing strategy knits
together”. He
also agreed
that a visit by Sir Ronnie Flanagan would be a good idea.
Mr Blair wanted “a
UK Minister
to take ownership of our overall policing strategy, including our
liaison with
the US over
national strategy” and that “this needs to be supported by a
dedicated and
sufficiently
strong team in London”. The FCO was asked to work on that with the
Cabinet
Office and
the MOD, though the letter also noted that “the Prime Minister
would be
grateful if
the Defence Secretary could continue to oversee the overall
security strategy”.
895
Letter
Sheinwald to Hayes, 4 October 2005, ‘Iraq Strategy’.
274