The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
On 28 June,
VAdm Style reported that progress had been made against all
actions,
“but it
would be premature to state that they may have been met or that the
underlying
issues have
been resolved”.374
To improve
the communication flow with theatre, DEC desk officers had been
encouraged
to engage
directly with theatre EC cells instead of through PJHQ. There was
greater
sharing of
information such as sending copies of the UOR database and all
approved
business
cases to EC cells.
701.
The threat in
Iraq continued to increase and further improvements to
force
protection
were agreed.
702.
On 29 March
2007, Mr Browne wrote to Mr Timms to outline UOR
funding
requirements
for financial year 2007/08.375
That
included:
•
An
additional £15m plus for ECM: “Anti‑coalition forces in both Iraq
and
Afghanistan
are developing the methods they employ in the use of
Improvised
Explosive
Devices; we are in a stronger position as a result of
additional
better‑protected
vehicles procured last year (by summer 2007 there will be
over
50 Mastiff
and Bulldog in theatre), but the best way to protect against
attack
remains to
stop the IEDs before impact …”
•
£50m for a
Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (C‑RAM) system capable
of
detecting,
providing warning of and intercepting indirect fire
(IDF).
•
£87m plus
for intelligence and surveillance capabilities for both Iraq
and
Afghanistan,
including ISTAR enhancements.
703.
On 5 April,
Second Lieutenant Joanna Dyer, Corporal Kris O’Neill,
Private
Eleanor
Dlugosz and Kingsman Adam James Smith were killed when an IED
exploded
underneath
the Warrior vehicle in which they were travelling.376
A local
civilian interpreter
was also
killed in the attack.
704.
On 17 April,
the Chiefs of Staff were briefed that the security situation in
MND(SE)
“had been
dominated by the two under belly IED attacks against a Warrior and
a
Challenger
2”.377
That type
of attack had been seen elsewhere in Iraq but was
unusual
for
MND(SE). The implications were still being assessed but “appeared
not to represent
a migration
of this type of attack to the South, rather a response by a
resourceful and
adaptive
enemy responding to MNF operations – operating procedures continued
to
be reviewed
and refined in theatre”.
374
Minute
DCDS(C) to Min(AF), 28 June 2007, ‘Equipment Requirements in
Theatre – Update of Actions’.
375
Letter
Browne to Timms, 29 March 2007, [untitled].
376
GOV.UK,
6 April
2007, Second
Lieutenant Joanna Yorke Dyer, Corporal Kris O’Neill, Private
Eleanor
Dlugosz and
Kingsman Adam James Smith killed in Iraq.
377
Minutes, 17
April 2007, Chiefs of Staff meeting.
122