6.5 |
Planning and preparation for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, January to
March 2003
•
consider,
or seek advice on whether the absence of a satisfactory plan
was
a
sufficient threat to UK strategic objectives to require a
reassessment of
the terms
of the UK engagement in Iraq. Despite concerns about the
state
of US
planning, he did not make agreement on a satisfactory
post-conflict
plan a
condition of UK participation in military action.
1474.
In the
weeks immediately following the invasion, Mr Blair’s
omissions
made it
more difficult for the UK Government to take an informed decision
on the
establishment
of the UK’s post-conflict Area of Responsibility (AOR) in
southern
Iraq
(addressed in more detail in Section 8).
1475.
In the
short to medium term, his omissions increased the risk that the
UK
would be
unable to respond to the unexpected in Iraq.
1476.
In the
longer term, they reduced the likelihood of achieving the
UK’s
strategic
objectives in Iraq.
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