The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
194.
On 30 January,
Mrs Caroline Spelman, Opposition spokesperson for
International
Development,
introduced an Opposition Day debate in the House of Commons
on
humanitarian
contingency planning. She contrasted the Government’s “worrying
silence”
on
humanitarian aspects of war in Iraq with the numerous statements
from Mr Hoon and
Mr Straw
on the military build-up and diplomatic activity, and sought
reassurances from
Ms Short
that there were “comprehensive humanitarian contingency plans” in
place.96
195.
In response,
Ms Short stated:
“It is
necessary to prepare to minimise harm if military action is taken
and to make
arrangements
for the reconstruction of the country as rapidly as possible.
To
achieve
that, we need to ensure that the UN takes the lead in the
reconstruction,
as it did
in Kosovo, East Timor and Afghanistan. That needs to be agreed
across
the international
community.”
196.
Ms Short
explained that:
“All
parties have recently been more willing to prepare for all
contingencies,
including
the military in the United States of America, but it has not been
easy to
get
discussions and analysis going across the international system to
prepare for
all those.
Anyone who pauses to reflect intelligently on the strains and
tensions
across the
international system because of the crisis would realise why that
has
been
difficult … but my department has been working for a considerable
time on all
contingencies.
That work is developing and we are getting more co-operation
from
some of our
international partners which was difficult to get
before.”
197.
Ms Short
reported that Iraq’s infrastructure was:
“… in
chronic disrepair. Hospitals, clinics, sanitation facilities and
water treatment
plants
suffer from a terrible lack of maintenance. The result is that the
Iraqi people’s
lives are
perilously fragile. Their coping strategies have been worn away by
years
of misrule.
The public facilities to help them cope are run down, often to the
point
198.
Preparations
by UN humanitarian organisations and the UN Office for
the
Co‑ordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) were “as good as they can be”,
but
given the
number of risks and uncertainties, it was very difficult to
prepare.
199.
Ms Short set
out five humanitarian risks of military action:
•
the “very
serious risk” of “large-scale ethnic fighting”;
•
damage to
water and sanitation facilities as a result of attacks on
electricity
supplies to
Iraqi anti-aircraft facilities;
96
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 30
January 2003, columns 1042-1043.
97
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 30
January 2003, columns 1053-1054.
344