The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
428.
Mr Scarlett
informed the Ad Hoc Meeting on Iraq on 10 April that news of
the
collapse of
the regime was spreading.270
429.
Adm Boyce
added that Iraqi forces remained in Tikrit, Mosul and Kirkuk,
although
there were
indications that the Regular Army was ready to surrender to
Coalition Forces
once those
were in the vicinity in sufficient strength. Resistance in the East
and West
had
“reduced significantly” and Basra “[was] returning to normality”.
The Coalition
needed to
bring the “large quantity of abandoned arms and military equipment
under
control”.
The lack of mains electricity was attributable to Iraqi sabotage.
Looting was
a problem
in Baghdad but was “much reduced in Basra”.
430.
In discussion,
attendees noted that records and other material about the
regime’s
activities
should be carefully preserved and their provenance recorded, and a
system
should be
put in place for the collection of all relevant material, including
on WMD, which
could be
accessed for forensic purposes.
431.
Concluding the
discussion, Mr Blair stated that the Coalition’s Freedom
Television
station
would start broadcasting that day. It was important to provide
evidence to the
media of
Iraqi sabotage of the electricity network. Assembling documentation
and
material
about the former Iraqi regime was a priority task and resources
should be
directed to
this.
432.
In response to
Mr Straw’s concerns that the “continental European media
was
not
reflecting the Coalition’s success or the argumentation for
military action”, Mr Blair
concluded
that a media campaign should be directed at rectifying the
portrayal in the
European
media of events leading up to the conflict and its
resolution.
433.
Mr Blair
informed Cabinet on 10 April that the military campaign in Iraq
was
progressing
well, but it was not over yet.271
Some
resistance to US forces continued in
Baghdad.
The Iraqis might make a last stand in the North, perhaps around
Tikrit. In the
West and
East, Iraqi resistance was diminishing. In the South, resistance
had largely
disappeared.
After initial looting in Basra, the situation was now
calmer.
434.
Mr Blair
stated that the Coalition was now in the end game of the Iraqi
regime’s
collapse.
Apart from military resistance, there were humanitarian challenges,
including
restoring
the electricity system which had been sabotaged by the retreating
militias.
Making the
lot of the Iraqis better had to be the continuing focus. While
British public
opinion
recognised our success to date, media coverage in the rest of the
world was
largely
negative. That had to be turned round. The first Coalition
broadcast to the Iraqi
people
using their network would take place that day.
435.
Mr Hoon
told his colleagues that elements of the Iraqi regime had not
yet
recognised
that the battle was lost.
270
Minutes, 10
April 2003, Ad Hoc Meeting on Iraq.
271
Cabinet
Conclusions, 10 April 2003.
78