The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
be
responsible for many, many more deaths even in one year than we
will be in any
269.
In November
2003, in response to media and NGO reporting on the high
levels
of civilian
casualties, the Government began to consider whether and how it
should
respond to
demands for information on the number of civilians killed in Iraq,
including the
number
killed by UK forces.
270.
That
consideration was driven by the Government’s concern to sustain
domestic
support for
operations in Iraq. Mr Straw and Mr Hoon agreed in
November 2003 that the
Government
needed to produce accurate casualty figures to rebut claims that
Coalition
Forces were
killing large numbers of civilians; in October 2004, Mr Blair
stated that
the
Government needed an estimate of civilian casualties which showed
the extent of
insurgent
responsibility.
271.
With
hindsight, greater efforts should have been made in the
post‑conflict period to
determine
the number of civilian casualties and the broader effects of
military operations
on
civilians. A trial monitoring exercise initiated by No.10 in
November 2004 was not
completed.
Much more Ministerial and senior official time was devoted to the
question
of which
department should have responsibility for the issue of civilian
casualties than to
efforts to
determine the actual number.
272.
The Government
was aware of several reports and studies (the Iraqi Ministry
of
Health in
October 2004, the Lancet
studies in
October 2004 and October 2006, and
the Iraq
Body Count dossier in July 2005) which suggested that coalition
forces were
responsible
for more civilian deaths than were the insurgents.
273.
Those reports
did not trigger any work within the Government either to
determine
the number
of civilian casualties or to reassess its military or civilian
effort. An FCO
official
commented that the Iraqi Ministry of Health’s figures “will not
help make the case
that more
civilians have been killed by terrorists than by military
action”.168
274.
The Inquiry
has considered the question of whether a Government should, in
the
future, do
more to maintain a fuller understanding of the human cost of any
conflict in
which it is
engaged.
275.
All military
operations carry a risk of civilian casualties. The parties to a
conflict
have an
obligation under International Humanitarian Law to limit its
effects on civilians.
276.
In Iraq, the
UK Government recognised that obligation in its Rules of
Engagement,
Targeting
Directive and guidance on Battle Damage Assessment. The Government
did
not
consider that it had a legal obligation to count civilian
casualties.
167
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 19 March
2003, column 934.
168
Minute FCO
[junior official] to Owen, 13 October 2004, ‘Iraq: Civilian
Casualty Figures’.
218