The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
•
continue
political engagement, SSR, and capacity‑building in the
provincial
government;
and
•
ensure that
Baghdad delivered the resources that Basra needed.
664.
At the DOP(I)
meeting, Mr Benn advised that the UK’s major development
projects
were now
reaching completion.377
The arrival
of a gas pumping plant in the next few
days would
significantly increase gas supply and leave a positive legacy.
Although the
water
towers projects had been delayed by security risks, DFID planned to
move its
focus to
capacity-building. The main challenge now would be ensuring the
Provincial
Council
received the necessary funds from Baghdad.
665.
Mr Benn
also said “a silent crisis” was unfolding in Iraq, as Iraqi
citizens fled from
sectarian
violence. That was putting increasing pressure on Iraqi services.
DFID had
provided
£1.4m to the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC).
666.
DOP(I) agreed
the overall intent of the MOD and FCO papers.
667.
Mr Blair
wrote to President Bush on 20 December.378
He emphasised
the
importance
of support for Prime Minister Maliki, through increasing the speed
at which
the Iraqi
Army was developing, supporting the reconciliation and outreach
work, and
helping to
create a more effective system for the disbursement of money within
Iraq.
668.
On 5 January
2007, President Bush briefed Mr Blair ahead of his speech on
Iraq
the
following week.379
During the
call he described a significant increase in US and
Iraqi
troops, and
a number of personnel changes.
669.
Mr Blair
said that it was vital to break the back of the violence in
Baghdad. He
urged
President Bush to focus on reconciliation and reconstruction as
well as security,
suggesting
that it might be helpful to designate individuals who would be
accountable for
leading
work on those areas.
670.
Mr Blair’s
Private Secretary wrote to Mrs Beckett’s Private Secretary on 8
January:
“We are
entering an important new phase in the Coalition effort in Iraq, as
–
following
the US review and in the light of our plans in Basra – we and the
US
attempt to
help the Iraqi Government entrench genuine change and progress in
the
areas of
security, reconstruction and reconciliation. The Prime Minister
judges that
our present
level of effort should be stepped up in response. He would like to
see
a
qualitative change in our ability to monitor progress in these key
areas, to identify
blockages
to progress, and to take rapid action to fix
these.” 380
377
Minutes, 7
December 2006, DOP(I) meeting.
378
Note [Blair
to Bush], [20 December 2006], ‘Note’.
379
Letter
Phillipson to Hayes, 5 January 2007, ‘Prime Minister’s Phonecall
with President Bush,
5 January: Iraq’.
380
Letter
Banner to Siddiq, 8 January 2007, ‘Iraq’.
304