The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
•
“Advice to
the Military/Coalition”. Two DFID secondees were advising
1(UK)
Div and one
DFID official was in ORHA, all contributing to DFID’s
“information
gathering
system”. A DFID secondment to the National Component HQ in
Qatar
was under
consideration.
32.
On 21 March,
two days after the start of the invasion, DFID reported that it
had
deployed
seven humanitarian and civil/military advisers:
•
a
two‑person team to Kuwait City;
•
two
advisers to join 1(UK) Div;
•
one to join
ORHA in Kuwait; and
•
one each to
Amman and Tehran.20
33.
In September
2002, the FCO began preparations for the reopening of a
British
Embassy in
Baghdad.
34.
On 27
September, Mr Peter Collecott, FCO Director General Corporate
Affairs,21
briefed
Sir Michael Jay, FCO Permanent Under Secretary
(PUS),22
on plans
for
reopening
the British Embassy:
“Based on
the Kabul experience, we are planning for an Embassy of,
initially,
11 FCO
staff (plus 6 from OGDs [other government departments] and 12
Close
Protection
Officers). We have begun the process of identifying possible
staff.
On the technical
side … we have likely volunteers.” 23
35.
Mr Collecott
emphasised the importance of committing immediately to the
capital
expenditure
required, including for “armoured vehicles, portable accommodation
and ICT
equipment”.
The lead time for armoured vehicles in particular was very long: 20
weeks,
which would
mean delivery in late February or early March 2003.
36.
On public
presentation, Mr Collecott advised:
“Our major,
and most visible, expenditure will be on equipment for Baghdad.
That is
defensible
on the grounds that this is prudent planning; re‑establishment in
Baghdad
does not
necessarily imply a military campaign or indeed regime change; and
that
we have a
commitment to the FAC (Foreign Affairs Committee) to have a
rapidly
deployable
Embassy for use anywhere.”
20
Paper DFID,
21 March 2003, ‘Iraq Humanitarian Situation Update: No 1
(INTERNAL)’.
21
Until late
2002 the DG Corporate Affairs was known as the FCO Chief
Clerk.
22
In keeping
with variations in use within departments, the Inquiry refers to
the most senior civil servant
in the FCO
and the MOD as the Permanent Under Secretary (PUS), but in all
other departments as the
Permanent
Secretary. The Permanent Under Secretaries and Permanent
Secretaries are referred to
collectively
as Permanent Secretaries.
23
Minute
Collecott to Jay, 27 September 2002, ‘Iraq Contingency
Measures’.
250