10.1 |
Reconstruction: March 2003 to June 2004
•
restoring
Iraqi public administration;
•
maintaining
and improving law and order;
•
improving
public communications; and
•
internationalising
the Coalition effort.
486.
This required
urgent action by CPA(Baghdad), in particular to:
•
clarify
CPA(South)’s remit;
•
ensure US
companies delivered on their contracts to provide operational
support
to
CPA(South) and repair essential infrastructure; and
•
provide
“operating/emergency” funding for Iraqi institutions.
“CPA(South)
is unable to deliver in terms of determining priority needs,
overseeing
implementation,
or supporting the political transition. There is a lack of
vision;
CPA(South)
is severely undermanned; and has almost no systems or resources
in
place to
deliver any tangible improvements soon. In consequence, 1 (UK) Div
retains
almost all
executive authority in the UK area of operations (AO). In turn,
locals look
to the
British military, not CPA(South), to address local problems. To the
extent that
these
functions are being carried out at present, it is due to the
unstinting efforts of
1 (UK) Div,
the few UK secondees in the South, and, more importantly, the
high
quality of
the Iraqi counterparts they are working with.”
488.
UK actions to
strengthen CPA(South) included:
•
Exploring
the possibility of establishing a CPA(South) Liaison Team
in
CPA(Baghdad),
to track policy development and champion the South.
•
CPA(South)
needed more senior staff. DFID/FCO would “look for” a “Director
of
Operations”
to support Ambassador Olsen. The UK should provide at least
one
and ideally
two of the CPA representatives in the Governorates.
•
CPA(South)
also needed more staff at working level. DFID would “look to
recruit”
additional
specialist staff.
•
The lack of
an effective CPA(South) communications operation was a
major
constraint.
1 (UK) Div and DFID would complete a joint assessment of
needs
by 11
June.
•
While
discussions continued between CPA(South) and
CPA(Baghdad)
on securing
operating funds for CPA(South), 1 (UK) Div would
provide
administrative
support to CPA(South) and DFID would look to deploy an
office
management
team as soon as possible. That team would have access
to
operating
funds for up to three months, if required.
87