The Report of the Iraq Inquiry

903.  The letter stated that DFID humanitarian preparations were well in hand;

those of the UN humanitarian agencies and the US and UK military were not.

904.  On 12 March, Ms Short set out her misgivings about the state of humanitarian

planning in a letter to Mr Blair.378 DFID preparations were well in hand; those of the UN

humanitarian agencies and the US and UK military were not. Ms Short argued that “UK

Armed Forces are not configured or supplied to provide substantial humanitarian relief”

and that the US military were even less prepared:

“Their focus is on recovery and reconstruction, whereas the most critical period

for their involvement will be during the immediate relief phase, during which the

implementing partners on whom their plans rely will almost certainly be unable to

deliver.”

905.  Ms Short listed three critical steps, in addition to a UN mandate, needed to improve

the situation:

• giving the lead co-ordinating role to the UN;

• clarity over the resources available to DFID to support the provision of

humanitarian and reconstruction assistance; and

• more time.

906.  Ms Short also confirmed that DFID had “earmarked £65m for Iraq … the majority of

my entire contingency reserve for next year [2003/04]”.

907.  The letter was also sent to Mr Hoon, Mr Straw, Mr Brown and Sir Andrew Turnbull.

908.  Mr Hoon responded on 14 March.379 He endorsed Ms Short’s conclusion that

international preparedness was insufficient, but insisted the UK and US military were

doing all they could with available resources, and argued that she understated the

priority the US attached to humanitarian issues.

909.  Ms Short outlined DFID’s humanitarian preparations to Parliament on

13 March.

910.  In her statement, Ms Short announced that DFID was also considering

longer-term reconstruction and reform issues.

911.  In response to the request from the International Development Committee on

10 March for DFID to issue a statement outlining its humanitarian contingency plans,

Ms Short issued a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 13 March.380 She

described how planning had progressed over the previous month: “My assessment

of the overall level of preparedness of the international community to cope with the

378 Letter Short to Blair, 12 March 2003, [untitled].

379 Letter Hoon to Blair, 14 March 2003, ‘Iraq: post conflict issues’.

380 House of Commons, Official Report, 13 March 2003, column 21WS.

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