6.5 |
Planning and preparation for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, January to
March 2003
1127.
The first
meeting of the Cabinet Committee set up to oversee all aspects of
the
reconstruction
of Iraq, the Ad Hoc Ministerial Group on Iraq Rehabilitation
(AHMGIR),
took place
on 10 April.
1128.
The creation
of the AHMGIR and its role in setting the direction of UK
post-conflict
policy are
addressed in Section 10.1.
1129.
Mr Rycroft’s
briefing for Mr Blair before the first Ad Hoc Meeting on 19
March
explained
that there would be a standard agenda each day, including
“Humanitarian
1130.
Mr Blair
told the meeting on 19 March that it was a priority to get a
Security
Council
resolution for the post-conflict phase that would “bring in those
who had been
opposed to
military action”.486
He
requested a meeting with Ms Short on 21 March, on
her return
from discussions with Mr Annan and the US on preparations for
humanitarian
relief and
reconstruction.
1131.
At their
meeting on 19 March, the Chiefs of Staff observed that the US
appeared
to be
shifting its focus to Phase IV and that there had been “much
greater US physical
preparation
for Phase IV than in any previous operation”.487
Adm Boyce
instructed
Lt Gen
Reith “to report the detail of the preparations in-theatre,
particularly the nature
and tonnage
of humanitarian aid stocks”.
1132.
Mr Blair
and President Bush spoke at 1240 on 19 March (see Section
3.8).488
They
discussed the military plans and timetable. Mr Blair said that
he had “reviewed the
military
plans and was confident that they would work”. Post-conflict issues
would be
the focus
of conversation when they met. A full day meeting was envisaged to
cover the
ground.
Mr Blair suggested that the discussions might include bringing
in allies who had
opposed
military action and co-ordinating a communications
strategy.
1133.
Mr Blair
and President Bush discussed post-conflict issues at Camp David
on
26 and
27 March, a week after the start of the invasion.
1134.
Asked in
Parliament on 19 March about the UK’s plans for post-conflict
Iraq,
Mr Blair
explained that discussions were under way and referred to the
principles
set out in
the Azores ‘Vision for Iraq and the Iraqi People’.
485
Minute
Rycroft to Prime Minister, 19 March 2003, ‘Iraq: 0830 Ministerial
Meeting’.
486
Minutes, 19
March 2003, Ad Hoc Meeting on Iraq.
487
Minutes, 19
March 2003, Chiefs of Staff meeting.
488
Letter
Cannon to McDonald, 19 March 2003, ‘Iraq: Prime Minister’s
Conversation with Bush, 19 March’.
513