The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
US would
have embarked on the action that it did – to deploy its own forces
to Basra
when the UK
withdrew, so as to secure the border and protect supply lines. The
US and
the UK
appear to have had different definitions of what “good enough”
meant.
156.
In Section
6.5, the Inquiry states that better planning and preparation for
a
post‑Saddam
Hussein Iraq would not necessarily have prevented the events
that
unfolded in
Iraq between 2003 and 2009. It would not have been possible for the
UK
to prepare
for every eventuality. However, better plans and preparation could
have
mitigated
some of the risks to which the UK and Iraq were exposed between
2003 and
2009 and
increased the likelihood of achieving the outcomes desired by the
UK and the
Iraqi
people.
157.
The lessons
identified by the Inquiry with regards to planning and preparation
for
post‑conflict
operations are described in Section 10.4. Those lessons, which
focus on
the
essential tasks that should be undertaken, also apply to SSR
planning.
158.
An SSR
strategy should define the functions of different elements of the
relevant
security
sector and the structures needed to perform those functions.
Considering those
questions
should drive a robust debate about how security requirements might
change
over
time.
159.
An
understanding of the many different models that exist
internationally for
internal
security, policing and criminal justice is essential. But those
models cannot
be
considered in isolation because what works in one country will not
necessarily
work in
another which may have very different traditions. It is therefore
critical for the
SSR
strategy to take full account of the history, culture and inherited
practices of the
country or
region in question. The strategy also needs to be informed by the
views and
aspirations
of the local population.
160.
A strategy
should set out the desired operating standard for each function
and
state how
that differs, if at all, from what exists. In doing so, the
strategy should specify
where
capacity needs to be developed and inform a serious assessment of
how the
material
resources available could best be deployed.
161.
It is
essential that the UK has an appropriate way to measure the success
of any
SSR plan.
If a clear strategy is in place and has taken account of the views
of the local
population,
the indicators of that success should be obvious. It should rarely
concentrate
on a
one‑dimensional set of numbers but instead be a more qualitative
and rounded
assessment.
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