12.1 |
Security Sector Reform
Navy will
continue to rely on coalition naval power to achieve its mission
for the
At that
time, there were around 35 UK naval personnel working in Naval
Assistance
1031.
Mr Des
Browne became Defence Secretary in May 2006. He visited Iraq
from
18 to
22 June.953
His
Assistant Private Secretary recorded that Mr Jawad Boulani,
the
new
Minister of the Interior, told Mr Browne he was very clear
about the need to reform
the police,
particularly in Basra.
1032.
Major General
Muhammed Latif, the Commander of the 10th Division, had
told
Mr Browne
that there were 15,000 police in Basra, but you could never find
them on the
streets. If
necessary, he was prepared to put a soldier in every police car to
force them
to do their
jobs. They failed to carry out even the most perfunctory
investigations into
murders.
Maj Gen Latif had started to use his own intelligence
officers to follow up cases
and monitor
police progress. When his staff asked questions about inaction, the
police
would say
that murders were “big boys’ issues”, usually a reference to the
specialist
police
organisations that Mr Boulani sought to disband.
1033.
During a
meeting with UK representatives, Mr Browne was told by the
police
advisor
that “we [the UK] had originally set our sights too high; teaching
forensics
instead of
the basics”. Adjustments had now been made and the programme seemed
to
be working
well. The police advisor rejected the outright criticism from
Maj Gen Latif and
said that
there were “areas that had the start of an effective policing
service”.
1034.
Air Chief
Marshal Jock Stirrup, CDS, briefed DOP(I) in July:
“… the main
issue affecting the population was sectarian murders. To see
progress
on that we
needed to take action against corrupt police officers and militia
groups.”954
1035.
ACM Stirrup
described progress with the Iraqi Army as “on track” but stated
that
“the
situation of the police was more difficult”.
1036.
During early
2006, substantial effort was dedicated to preparation for the
transfer
of lead
responsibility for security in Muthanna and Maysan provinces. That
effort is
detailed in
Section 9.4.
951
Report, 6
September 2007, ‘Independent Commission on the Security Forces in
Iraq’.
952
Report, 5
July 2007, ‘PJHQ Manning Tables’.
953
Minute
APS/SoS [MOD] to DCDS(C), 28 June 2006, ‘Secretary of State’s Visit
to Iraq –
18‑22 June
2006’.
954
Minutes, 6
July 2006, DOP(I) meeting.
291