The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
499.
The expansion
of the UK Area of Operations (AO) during conflict
operations
and the
final extent of the post-conflict UK Area of Responsibility (AOR)
are shown on
Map 5 in
Annex 4.
Area of
Operations (AO): The UK
military’s area of combat operations during the
invasion of
Iraq (Phase III of the campaign). It is the term applied during
conflict and,
in terms of
time, space and force, is the area in which lethal force can be
applied for
a designated
period of time.
Area of
Responsibility (AOR): The term is
usually applied in peace support operations.
In Iraq, it
referred to the area of southern Iraq for which the UK military was
responsible
during the
post-conflict Occupation of Iraq (Phase IV of
operations).
The two
terms were not used consistently within the UK Government and were
sometimes
applied
interchangeably in the same document.
500.
The
transition from conflict (Phase III) to post-conflict (Phase IV)
military
operations
began as soon as Coalition troops started to occupy Iraqi
territory.
501.
When that
transition began there had been no systematic analysis of
the
UK’s
military or civilian capacity to fulfil its likely obligations in
the South in a
range of
different circumstances, including in a hostile security
environment with
low levels
of Iraqi consent.
502.
Mr Straw
and Mr Hoon advised Mr Blair:
“The
expectation is that UK forces would be responsible for a task
focused on
Basra and
other key military objectives in the south-east of Iraq, which
could
include 20
percent of the Iraqi population.”
503.
Mr Blair
sought further advice on the size of any UK sector, the duration
of
the UK
commitment and the exit strategy.
504.
The absence of
contingency plans and preparations, and the assumptions
which
shaped
continuing discussions about the level and extent of the UK’s
post-conflict
military
and civilian deployment, are addressed in Section 6.5.
90