Executive
Summary
906.
All civilian
deployments should be assessed and reviewed against a
single,
rigorous,
cross‑government framework for risk management. The framework
should
provide the
means for the Government as a whole to strike an effective balance
between
security
and operational effectiveness, and to take timely decisions on the
provision of
appropriate
security measures.
907.
Standardising
tour lengths for civilians deployed by different departments
would
have eased
the overall administrative burden and, perhaps, some of the
tensions
between
individuals from different government departments serving in Iraq.
But the
environment
was difficult and individuals’ resilience and circumstances
varied.
The introduction
of the option to extend a tour of duty was an appropriate
response.
908.
Throughout any
operation of this kind, departments should maintain
two
procedures
for the systematic debriefing of staff returning to the UK: one to
meet duty
of care
obligations, the other to learn lessons from their
experience.
909.
In order to
identify individuals with the right skills, there must be clarity
about the
roles they
are to perform. Wherever possible, individuals should be recruited
for and
deployed to
clearly defined roles appropriate to their skills and seniority.
They must be
provided
with the equipment needed to perform those roles to a high
standard.
910.
The Government
should consider the introduction of a mechanism for
responding
to a surge
in demand for a particular language capability.
911.
The Inquiry
views the inability of the FCO, the MOD and DFID to confirm
how
many
civilian personnel were deployed to or employed in Iraq, in which
locations and
in what
roles, as a serious failure. Data management systems must provide
accurate
information
on the names, roles and locations of all staff for whom departments
have
duty of
care responsibilities.
2 August
1990
Saddam
Hussein invades Kuwait
29 November
1990 Security Council adopts resolution 678
3 April
1991
Security
Council adopts resolution 687
December
1998
Operation
Desert Fox
2 June
1999
Ministerial
Committee on Defence and Overseas Policy
approves a
policy of continuing containment
17 December
1999 Security Council adopts resolution 1284
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