The Report of the Iraq Inquiry

195. Lt Gen Pigott told Mr Hoon on 18 April that a small, senior group had been put

together “including … representatives from other interested Departments” to “brainstorm

the options”.98

196. Mr Peter Ricketts, FCO Political Director, described the role of the group, which

became known as the “Pigott Group”, to Mr Straw on 25 April as to think about the

issues that would be involved in any military operation in Iraq.99 Its establishment was:

“… a sensitive exercise. Participation is being tightly restricted and paperwork will

be kept to the minimum.”

197. Mr Ricketts advised Mr Straw that the first meeting of the Group had discussed

how the objective or “end state” of a military operation should be defined. That is

addressed in Section 3.3.

198. The minute stated that senior officials from the Cabinet Office and the Agencies,

as well as the FCO, would be involved.

199. Sir Peter Ricketts told the Inquiry that the role of the Pigott Group was to discuss

“the implications of military planning for other departments’ activities” rather than to

“discuss military planning as such”.100

200. Lord Boyce told the Inquiry that the Group “was constrained, to a very small group

of people … in London in the MOD, it didn’t actually go outside into any of the outposts

… in the MOD”.101

201. Lt Gen Pigott told the Inquiry that the role of the Group was:

“… to do some scoping work … Not to do … planning … What could we be dealing

with here? What might be the big issues? … the what, when, where. What were they

beginning to look like …”102

202. Mr Tom McKane, Deputy Head of OD Sec from September 1999 until early

September 2002, told the Inquiry that the Group “met a number of times in the early

summer” of 2002.103 The meetings were “not minuted” and were “very informal … the

focus was on precisely what was the US emerging plan”. At that stage there was “great

uncertainty about that”, and British access to American thinking had been “pretty limited”.

203. Mr Webb told the Inquiry that the Group had worked out the shape of the options

which he had then discussed with Mr Douglas Feith, US Under Secretary of Defense

for Policy.104

98 Minute Watkins to Policy Director, 18 April 2002, ‘Iraq’.

99 Minute Ricketts to Private Secretary [FCO], 25 April 2002, ‘Iraq Contingency Planning’.

100 Public hearing, 1 December 2009, pages 20‑21.

101 Public hearing, 3 December 2009, page 11.

102 Public hearing, 4 December 2009, pages 17‑18.

103 Public hearing, 19 January 2011, page 60.

104 Private hearing, 23 June 2010, page 15.

206