6.5 |
Planning and preparation for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, January to
March 2003
reduce by a
third within six months. You can continue to count on us to
do
our bit.
– The Phase
IV task is huge, comparable to the transformation of
central
European
countries after the fall of the Berlin Wall – beyond what even
the
US can
manage by itself. We shall need to build a broad coalition. We
shall
need more
countries to provide peacekeeping forces. We must involve the
UN
agencies,
other countries and international organisations in reconstructing
the
country. We
need their expertise and finance.
– … I would
like to begin lobbying potential contributors now. Can we agree
to
this?
– … [I]n
order to ease the passage of the second UN Security Council
resolution
… there
could be advantage in explaining our intention to go for a
third
resolution
for Phase IV.
– It will
take some weeks and months, after securing UN authorisation,
to
get a
provisional civil administration ready to move to Iraq. So for the
initial
post‑conflict
period, our Coalition forces, supported by Jay Garner’s Office
of
Reconstruction
and Humanitarian Assistance, will be in charge of Iraq.
The
choices we
make in those first weeks and months will significantly
shape
the future
development of Iraq. Then we can hand over the task to the
wider
international
effort, mandated by the UN.
– We should
be absolutely clear that Coalition military forces will remain
under
General
Frank’s command.
– I am not
starry-eyed about the UN’s management record. I do not
propose
that the UN
should take over the running of Iraq. But the Security
Council’s
authorisation
is crucial to building support internationally for our
efforts.
– We need
to identify a senior international figure (but not a Brit, American
or
Australian)
who could serve as the Head of Civil Administration.
– Our
officials have excellent links on the detailed planning for Phase
IV. They
should
continue to work closely together on the key issues. These
include
… how to
deal with those closest to Saddam’s regime … and rebutting
the
accusation
that this is a war about oil …
– One last
important thing – it will be very helpful to get the weapons
inspectors
back into
Iraq quickly to verify findings of Iraqi WMD.”
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