6.5 |
Planning and preparation for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, January to
March 2003
Iraq. The
question about what sort of resolution was needed for the
administration and
reconstruction
of Iraq should be parked. Mr Blair said that:
“The time
to debate this would come when we had secured victory, and were in
a
position of
strength.”534
1278.
Mr Blair
raised Phase IV issues with President Bush the next day.
They
discussed
the need to push for a quick agreement on the resolution to
continue the
OFF
programme, and for a separate resolution that would free up
financial and troop
contributions
from other nations, secure World Bank and IMF involvement and
put
reconstruction
on the right footing.535
1279.
Mr Rycroft
recorded that Mr Blair had identified the main issue as
whether
the UN
formed the future Iraqi government or whether the Coalition did so
with UN
endorsement,
but had said that “it was not helpful to expose this distinction
yet”.
1280.
After
returning to the UK, Mr Blair told the Ad Hoc Meeting on Iraq
that in relation
to the
post-conflict administration of Iraq, “quiet and effective
diplomacy” was the tactic
to achieve
a new resolution.536
1281.
The process
leading to the adoption of resolution 1483 in May 2003 is
addressed
in Section
9.1.
1282.
Ms Short
told DFID officials on 26 March that Mr Blair had given
her
responsibility
for reconstruction in Iraq.
1283.
Ms Short held
a meeting with key DFID officials on 26 March at which she
stated:
“The
important thing was for the world to know that a resolution for a
UN mandate was
1284.
At the
meeting, officials reported a sense in Whitehall that a
resolution
on
reconstruction might not be achieved. Ms Short made clear that
“significant
engagement”
on reconstruction would need a UN resolution. The Attorney
General
had been
clear at Mr Blair’s meeting that morning that, under the
Geneva and Hague
Conventions,
no changes could be made to the administration by the
Occupying
Powers,
except to keep systems working for civilians. Ms Short asked her
office to
request
that the Attorney General’s advice be committed to
paper.
1285.
Ms Short
reported that “the Prime Minister had given her responsibility
for
reconstruction
in Iraq”. She stated that her role should be underpinned by a
Cabinet
Office
Committee chaired by Mr Chakrabarti, adding: “This area was
our lead in
534
Letter
Manning to McDonald, 28 March 2003, ‘Prime Minister’s Meeting with
President Bush at
Camp David:
Dinner on 26 March’.
535
Letter
Rycroft to McDonald, 27 March 2003, ‘Prime Minister’s Meeting with
President Bush at
Camp David:
Iraq Phase IV’.
536
Minutes, 28
March 2003, Ad Hoc Meeting on Iraq.
537
Minute
Warren to Fernie, 26 March 2003, ‘Iraq: Meeting with Secretary of
State’.
537