The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
{{MiTTs of
14th Division with supporting Quick Reaction Forces;
and
{{the
Naval Transition Team.
•
The US
would provide:
{{MiTTs of
10th Division;
{{border
security; and
{{IPS
reform/retraining.
1480.
On 1 May,
Mr Brown met Gen Petraeus and agreed that the key
remaining UK
task on SSR
would be the preparation of 14th Division to
be operational by the end of
the first
quarter of 2009.1355
Once that
task was complete, the UK would consider its
mission
complete.
1481.
On 2 May,
Mr Simon McDonald, Mr Brown’s Foreign and Defence Policy
Adviser,
warned
Mr Brown:
“We’ll need
to think about how we assess 14th Division’s readiness; we do
not
want to
leave this solely to the US; they may be tempted to use that
responsibility
1482.
On 5 June, the
JIC Assessment of the ISF judged:
“In Basra,
even with coalition mentors, the ability of 14th Army
Division to fully
maintain
security once Jaysh al‑Mahdi (JAM) fighters return is uncertain,
without the
continued
support of reinforcements from 1st and 7th Divisions (which are
likely to be
called on
to support other operations in Sadr City and
Maysan).”1357
1483.
On 13 June,
Maj Gen White‑Spunner reported that development of
14th Division
was likely
to take until April 2009.1358
He stated
that, in December, there would be a
complete US
military police battalion in Basra which, together with the Joint
Security
Stations,
he believed would lead to a “slow improvement in police
performance”.
1484.
NSID(OD) met
on 15 July and discussed the future strategy for the UK in
Iraq.1359
It was
suggested that beyond April 2009 the “remaining military tasks”
that would
“resemble
normal defence co‑operation” were:
•
continuing
the “small scale” mentoring for 14th Division’s
Headquarters;
•
training
the Iraqi Navy; and
•
supporting
officer training.
1355
Minute
White‑Spunner to CJO, 2 May 2008, ‘GOC MND(SE) Weekly Letter – 1
May 2008’.
1356
Email
Fletcher to Brown, 2 May 2008, ‘Iraq Troop Numbers – Note from
Simon’.
1357
JIC
Assessment, 5 June 2008, ‘Iraqi Security Forces: More Able, Less
Challenged’.
1358
Minute
White‑Spunner to CJO, 13 June 2008, ‘MND(SE) Weekly Letter – 13
June 08’.
1359
Minutes, 15
July 2008, NSID(OD) meeting.
398