8 | The
invasion
724.
When asked
exactly when the decision was made that the UK would
take
responsibility
for the South and who was involved in that decision, Mr Blair
told the
Inquiry:
“… from
January 2003 it was obvious – not obvious, sorry – it was agreed
we
would be
going in through the south … So we would be, as it were, with de
facto
responsibility
for that area. I think. Mike Jackson gave evidence to you which
said
really in a
sense our responsibility for the aftermath in that sector grew out
of the fact
that this
was our area of operations in the conflict.
“We then …
had a meeting on 6 March … I didn’t resolve that finally
then.
“There was
then a Cabinet Office note of 19 March … saying, ‘We should decide
on
sectors,
and then a joint Foreign and Defence Secretary minute is coming to
you …’
“So we
didn’t take a final view then, but their note to me was, the
expectation is the
UK forces
would be responsible for a task focused on Basra. I then had that
meeting
with
them.
“On 21
March Matthew Rycroft then notes out to the Foreign Office and
Ministry of
Defence:
‘The Prime Minister … agrees with the Foreign and Defence
Secretaries’
proposals,
provided there is a satisfactory resolution’, and then I list
certain issues.
“Then again
the Foreign Office write to Matthew Rycroft, and then what happens
is
that we
establish at some point then the Ad Hoc Committee [the Ad Hoc
Ministerial
Group on
Iraq Rehabilitation], capital ‘A’, capital ‘H’ this time, with Jack
Straw in
charge, and
out of that comes the view we should be responsible for that
sector
and this
should be part of a joint Occupying Power and responsibility. I
have to say,
though, it
was always pretty obvious that’s where we would end
up.” 405
725.
Asked whether,
during that period, there had been a specific decision on
taking
responsibility
for the South, Mr Blair replied:
“I think
the specific decision ultimately was taken when we then got
resolution 1483.
Most of the
discussion here was not really about whether we should be
responsible
for the
South or not. It was about the UN role. Then what happened was
there were
these Ad
Hoc Committee meetings that Jack was chairing … They were
going
through all
this in an immense amount of detail, legal advice and so on.
Peter
Goldsmith
was on it. Then we got 1483, reported it to Cabinet and agreed
it.” 406
726.
The UK
military plan approved by Mr Blair on 14 March defined the
UK’s
Phase IV
AOR as an area broadly equivalent to the single province of
Basra.
405
Public
hearing, 21 January 2011, pages 117-119.
406
Public
hearing, 21 January 2011, page 119.
127