The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
47.
The Permanent
Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) advised Mr Hoon on 14 May 2003,
two
weeks after
the end of major combat operations, that only seven Iraqi citizens
had so far
been
evacuated to the UK, predominantly for severe burns (PJHQ had
planned for the
evacuation
of 20 Iraqi citizens).
48.
The MOD
reported in July 2003 that around 200 Iraqi Prisoners of War and
200 Iraqi
civilians
had been treated in British medical facilities during the
deployment and combat
49.
On 31 March,
Mr Hoon and Adm Boyce briefed Mr Blair on progress on
military
operations.37
Mr Blair
asked for an estimate of civilian casualties. Mr Hoon
replied:
“Hundreds.”
50.
As major
combat operations continued, the Government came under
sustained
pressure in
the House of Commons to provide estimates of Iraqi and civilian
casualties
and to
minimise civilian casualties and damage to
infrastructure.
51.
On 2 April, in
response to a question from Mr John MacDougall, Mr Adam
Ingram,
Minister of
State for the Armed Forces, stated:
“We have no
means of ascertaining the numbers of military or civilian lives
lost
during the
conflict in Iraq to date, although we make every effort to keep any
impact
upon the
Iraqi civilian population to an absolute minimum. All our military
planning is
conducted
in full accordance with our obligations under international law to
employ
the minimum
necessary use of force to achieve military effect, and to avoid
injury
to
non‑combatants or civilian infrastructure. Practically, this is
achieved through a
combination
of an extremely careful targeting process and highly accurate
precision
52.
The following
day, in response to a question from Ms Caroline Spelman
regarding
the number
of Iraqi civilians who had been injured and killed as a result of
the conflict,
Mr Ingram
stated:
“… it is
impossible to know for sure how many civilians have been injured,
or killed
and
subsequently buried.”39
53.
IBC reported
in July 2005 that 7,299 non‑combatant civilians had been
killed
between 20
March 2003 and 30 April 2003.40
Of those
deaths, 6,882 had been caused
by US‑led
forces, 206 by “anti‑Occupation forces, unknown agents and crime”,
and
211 by
both US‑led and anti‑Occupation forces.
36
Ministry of
Defence, Operations
in Iraq: First Reflections, July
2003.
37
Minute
Rycroft to Powell, 31 March 2004, ‘Iraq: Military Briefing, 31
March 2003’.
38
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 2 April
2003, column 738W.
39
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 3 April
2003, column 783W.
40
Iraq Body
Count, July 2005, A Dossier
of Civilian Casualties 2003 – 2005.
180