The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
Any
proposal for an operation which breached those parameters (which is
not
currently
in the offing) would be subject to the usual Ministerial
consideration.”141
259.
Mr Webb told
the Inquiry that, with regard to planned action to degrade
Iraq’s
air‑defence
system:
“… a degree
of caution … set in during the spring of 2001 … sensing that
there
had been
this reaction in the region, I think the senior commanders didn’t
want
to propose
more of that if they didn’t have to. As a result, some of the
patrolling
reduced; in
other words, a decision was taken that if we didn’t know where
we
might face
this risk over part of the southern No-Fly Zone, we wouldn’t patrol
there
for a
while.
“So the
operational commanders reduced the scope of the operation under
their
discretionary
authority and with our support, rather than proposing a repeat of
those
situations.
And that went on for a few months.”142
260.
The Cabinet
Office took the lead in co-ordinating inter-departmental
efforts
to define
the nature of future sanctions arrangements.
261.
Papers were
produced on:
•
how a more
focused sanctions regime could be established (‘Iraq: Handling
the
Sanctions
Issue’);
•
how
controls to prevent Iraq re-arming would operate after the
suspension of
•
establishing
better border controls;144
and
•
the
application of financial sanctions against Iraq.145
262.
On 16 March,
Mr Sawers sent Dr Rice a copy of the UK’s draft ‘Contract with
the
Iraqi
People’ and a paper entitled ‘Iraq: Handling the Sanctions
Issue’.146
263.
The paper on
sanctions highlighted the danger that the forthcoming
resolution
on rolling
over the OFF programme would “present the friends of Iraq in the P5
with an
141
Letter
Miller to Sawers, 30 March 2001, ‘Iraq’.
142
Public
hearing, 24 November 2009, page 147.
143
Letter Ross
to McKane 16 March 2001, ‘Iraq Post Suspension Controls’ attaching
Paper UKMIS
New York,
16 March 2001, ‘Iraq Sanctions Suspension UK Discussion Paper’;
Letter Patey to Macaire,
28 March
2001, ‘Iraq: Sanctions Suspension’, attaching Paper, [undated],
‘Iraq Sanctions Suspension
UK
Discussion Paper’.
144
Letter
McKane to Macaire, 30 March 2001, ‘Iraq: Better Border Controls’
attaching Paper Cabinet
Office,
March 2001, ‘Iraq: Better Border Controls’.
145
Letter
Casale to Marriott, 2 April 2001, ‘UK’s Application of Financial
Sanctions Against Iraq’ attaching
Paper,
[undated], ‘Iraqi Financial Sanctions: Options for
Change’.
146
Letter
Sawers to Rice, 16 March 2001, ‘Iraq’ attaching Paper, [undated],
‘Contract with the Iraqi People’
and Paper,
[undated], ‘Iraq: Handling the Sanctions Issue’.
242