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12.2  |  Conclusions: Security Sector Reform
Pre‑invasion planning and preparation
What is SSR?
The Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) defines SSR
as development work that helps societies to “escape from a downward spiral wherein
insecurity, crime and underdevelopment are mutually reinforcing”.1
In considering the SSR effort in Iraq, the Inquiry’s task was complicated by a lack of clear
terminology. That is indicative of the lack of clarity which hampered SSR activities from
the start. The term Security Sector Reform was not used in a consistent way, and was
sometimes used interchangeably with phrases such as “security system reform” and “Rule
of Law”. It was sometimes used to refer solely to police reform or to work to reform the
army. The term “Rule of Law” was often used to refer specifically to the justice sector.
The term “Security Sector Reform” (SSR) is used in this Report to refer to work to rebuild
and reform Iraq’s security and justice institutions. The evidence available to the Inquiry
reflects the UK’s overwhelming focus on the Iraqi Army (IA) and Iraqi Police Service
(IPS). Low‑budget projects were undertaken in relation to the Iraqi judiciary and prison
system (see Box, ‘The justice sector’, later in this Section) but their scale was very small
by comparison.
3.  Before the invasion, UK Government departments recognised that Security Sector
Reform (SSR) would be an important component in reconstructing Iraq.
4.  The FCO acknowledged that SSR should be “at the centre of post‑conflict work,
rather than outside it as happened in Afghanistan”,2 and understood that the issues
raised by SSR would be complex and should be planned for as soon as possible.
5.  Papers on SSR written by the FCO between October and December 2002
demonstrated the range of fundamental questions on SSR in Iraq for which the UK did
not yet have answers. They included:
“What security structures would be appropriate for a post S[addam] H[ussein]
Iraqi Government? How do we arrive at an answer? What are the threats,
internal and external? Should we undertake a comprehensive review of the
armed forces?”3
“How do we replace an excessively large security apparatus with something
‘right sized’? Reform or abolition? Which parts of the security apparatus might
be loyal to a new government and which not?”
1 OECD DAC, Handbook on Security System Reform, 2007.
2 Paper FCO Middle East Department, 10 December 2002, ‘Iraq: Security Sector Reform’.
3 Letter Gray to Drummond, 18 October 2002, ‘Papers for the AHGI’ attaching Paper, [unattributed],
17 October 2002, ‘Iraq: Security Sector Reform’.
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