6.1 |
Development of the military options for an invasion of
Iraq
1375.
Asked when
during the summer of 2002 the idea that the UK would lead on
the
northern
option had arisen, Lord Boyce told the Inquiry that
it:
“… was a
fairly early part of the planning process, that we’d come from
Turkey.
We weren’t
going to lead it … we’d have been part of the American force
…”532
1376.
Asked where
the idea had originated, Lord Boyce told the Inquiry that it
was
“to a
certain extent American‑driven” but there was a dormant “NATO plan
to go
through Turkey”
that could have been “dusted off and re‑shaped to deal with
this
particular
operation”.533
1377.
Lt Gen Fry
told the Inquiry that he had “previous [experience] … in …
Kurdistan”
where he
had been deployed in 1991.534
He had
taken the view, at the time “and … still”,
that the
northern option offered “demonstrable military advantage”. That
included less
significant
geographical challenges and more freedom of manoeuvre.
1378.
Gen Reith
recalled that the UK had suggested a second axis from the north to
fix
the six to
eight Iraqi divisions lined up along the edge of the Kurdish zone
and prevent
them moving
south, although he could not recall the exact
timing.535
1379.
Gen Reith
told the Inquiry:
“What
happened with the northern option was that, when we had suggested
it to
them [the
US], they then came back and said to us, ‘Well, perhaps the UK
could do
the
northern option as a discrete entity.’”536
1380.
Mr Hoon
told the Inquiry that his recollection was that the possibility of
an attack
on two axes
to divide the Republican Guard had been identified and discussed
before
Lt Gen Pigott’s
visit to CENTCOM at the end of June; and that
Lt Gen Pigott had
persuaded
the US military to consider a northern option.537
1381.
Mr Hoon
told the Inquiry that he was “pretty confident” that the UK
had
“persuaded”
the US “about the northern option”.538
1382.
By late
October 2002, the US had adopted a northern axis as an
essential
element of
its campaign plan and decided to allocate its 4th Infantry Division
to
that
task.
1383.
The MOD’s
initial aspiration was to lead the operation from the North.
But,
by late
October 2002, the US had adopted a northern axis as an essential
element
532
Public
hearing, 3 December 2009, page 22.
533
Public
hearing, 3 December 2009, page 50.
534
Public
hearing, 16 December 2009, pages 14 and 17.
535
Private
hearing, 15 January 2010, page 14.
536
Private
hearing, 15 January 2010, page 23.
537
Public
hearing, 19 January 2010, pages 22‑23.
538
Public
hearing, 19 January 2010, page 43.
377