The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
1249.
On 30 May,
Mr Gibson advised Mr Browne that the MOD should “cease to
plan
on the
basis that Tier 3 Tranche 3 will be required and take the steps
necessary to
reconfigure
Tranches 1 and 2” to get best value for money from the
project.659
1250.
That was
because the focus on training and mentoring of Iraqi Security
Forces
meant there
was “greater confidence” that the UK would have completed the bulk
of its
mission in
Iraq by early 2009. Against that background, it seemed unlikely to
Mr Gibson
that the UK
would need or wish to retain a large base at Basra Air
Station.
1251.
While
Ministerial decisions on the timing and pace of any drawdown in
2009
were yet to
be agreed, approval for Tranche 3 would be needed “now” if it were
to be
delivered
by “October‑December 2009” (at the earliest). If a bid for funding
was not
made before
the summer, the project would not be delivered until
2010.
1252.
With “very
limited time”, it was possible to adjust Tranches 1 and 2 into
“a
more
coherent package, perhaps consisting of two feeding halls, the
hospital plus five
accommodation
blocks, sufficient for a force of around 1,500”. Mr Gibson
advised that
that was
“the most pragmatic, best value for money approach without taking
excessive
additional
risk over and above the other options currently available to
us”.
1253.
On 26 July,
Brigadier Julian Free, Commander of 4 Mechanised
Brigade,
assessed
that the completion of enhanced individual overhead protection had
“markedly
increased
the force protection afforded to troops on the COB” but warned that
the risk
of a mass
casualty event still remained.660
He implied
that was because not all of the
communal
buildings had been hardened.
1254.
On 17 October,
a PJHQ official advised Mr Browne that the final structure of
first
tranche
would be complete and operational by 20 October.661
The other
structures had
come into
use on 14 July, 14 August and 24 September.
1255.
The second
tranche was “to start coming on line in March‑April 2009” but,
given
the plans
for transition, it was unlikely that the UK would “derive
significant benefit from
these
facilities”.
1256.
The US had
expressed an interest in taking over structures from the first
two
tranches as
part of their plans to move to Basra Air Station in 2009. It was
estimated
that £4.9m
could be saved from stopping the Tranche 2 programme “now” but
PJHQ
judged,
subject to Ministerial and Treasury approval, “it would make sense
to complete
the
structures as part of a wider arrangement with the US regarding the
transfer of
responsibility
in MND(SE)”. That would still result in a £3.5m
saving.
659
Minute
Gibson to PS/Secretary of State [MOD], 30 May 2008, ‘The Tier 3
Programme at Basra COB’.
660
Report
Free, 26 July 2008, ‘Op TELIC 11: HQ 4 Mechanized Brigade Post
Operational Report’.
661
Minute PJHQ
[junior official] to PS/SofS [MOD], 17 October 2008, ‘Iraq: Update
on the Protected
Structures
Programme (Tier 3)’.
212