17 |
Civilian casualties
39.
General Tommy
Franks, Commander in Chief US Central Command
(CENTCOM),
met
Mr Blair on 25 February.33
The record
of the meeting written by a No.10 official
reported
that Mr Blair asked if Gen Franks had “any idea” of the scale
of likely
civilian casualties.
40.
Adm Boyce
stated that civilian casualties were likely to be in the “low
hundreds”.
Gen Franks
stated that ways to minimise civilian casualties were being
explored.
41.
Mr Blair
concluded that “we must set out our strategy: to destroy the regime
but
minimise
civilian casualties”.
42.
Mr Peter
Watkins, Mr Hoon’s Principal Private Secretary, sent the MOD’s
response
to
Mr Blair’s questions to No.10 on 24 February.34
Mr Watkins
advised that the MOD
estimated
that the UK “land battle” casualties would be in the order of 30–60
killed,
and that
Iraqi land battle casualties would be in the order of 500–1,200
killed. Detailed
assessments
of likely casualties from the air campaign, including civilian
casualties,
could only
be done on a “target‑by‑target” basis and this work was “in
hand”.
Mr Watkins
stated:
“Iraqi
civilian casualties from anything other than the air campaign are
likely to be
relatively
few, unless Coalition forces become engaged in fighting in urban
areas.”
43.
Mr Watkins’
letter did not refer to the broad estimates of civilian casualties
that had
been
submitted to the Chiefs of Staff on 3 February.
44.
Section 16.2
addresses the provision of medical care to UK Service
Personnel.
45.
The MOD
recognised before the invasion that, under the Geneva Convention,
it was
obliged to
provide Iraqi citizens (both military personnel and civilians) with
the medical
care that
they required within the UK’s means and
capabilities.35
46.
That
obligation was reflected in military planning for Operation TELIC.
The MOD’s
policy was
that initial treatment would take place in theatre, with transfer
to other
countries
in the region if transfer was required and if those countries
agreed to accept
Iraqi
citizens for treatment. If those countries did not agree to accept
them, the UK would
evacuate
the very seriously injured to the UK for specialist
care.
33
Letter
Cannon to Owen, 25 February 2003, ‘Iraq: Prime Minister’s Meeting
with General Franks’.
34
Letter
Watkins to Rycroft, 24 February 2003, ‘Iraq: Political and Military
Questions’; Minute Rycroft to
Prime
Minister, 26 February 2003, ‘Political and Military Questions on
Iraq’.
35
Minute PJHQ
[junior official] to APS/Mr Hoon, 14 May 2003, ‘Operation
TELIC: Aeromedical Evacuation
of Iraqi
Civilians to the UK for Treatment’.
179