12.2 |
Conclusions: Security Sector Reform
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
•
“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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