9.2 | 23
May 2003 to June 2004
51.
On 3 June, Sir
Kevin Tebbit, MOD Permanent Under Secretary, sent a “quick
note
of
impressions” to Mr Hoon based on a visit he and General
Michael Walker, Chief of the
Defence
Staff, had undertaken to Basra and Baghdad.21
“The first
impression … is an overwhelming sense of the scale and complexity
of
the
reconstruction effort required – political, security,
infrastructure – and the
continuing
lack of the integrated strategy and plans to carry this forward.
Although
there are
indications that Bremer really is beginning to get to grips with
this (and he
agrees with
us about the solution to many, but not all, of the problems) the
jury is
still out
on whether Washington will give him the authority needed … It also
means
that the UK
has to direct its own limited resources to best effect. This
amounts to
two things:
assistance with the conceptual planning in Baghdad for the country
as
a whole,
plus practical contribution where we can … and delivering ‘our’
area in the
South as an
exemplar.”
53.
Sir Kevin
reported that:
“The most
immediate thing Bremer wants from us – and he is probably right –
is still
in the law
and order field/police training. He said he was disappointed about
16AAB,
and CDS
explained why we felt this was the wrong answer. But we went on
to
explore how
best we might help in a more considered way.”
54.
Mr Matthew
Rycroft, Mr Blair’s Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs,
used responses
to the
commissions he issued after Mr Blair’s meeting of 3 June to
write a minute for
Mr Blair
(copied only within No.10) setting out the “big picture but
concrete points” for
him to put
to President Bush.22
They
were:
“(a)
SECURITY. This is the top priority.
•
Get US
forces in Baghdad out on foot patrols.
•
Deploy a
3,000 strong international police force.
•
Re-employ
some ex-servicemen to provide guards for infrastructure
and
ministries
to prevent looting.
(b) SORT
OUT THE CPA’S ORGANISATION. The only way to get round the
…
problem is
for you to raise directly with Bush.
•
Install
proper phones and IT.
•
Delegate
more decision-making to the CPA, to avoid … wrangling.
•
Sort out
the communications strategy.
21
Minute
Tebbit to Secretary of State [MOD], 3 June 2003, ‘Visit to Basrah
and Baghdad’.
22
Minute
Rycroft to Prime Minister, 5 June 2003, ‘Iraq: Meeting at 0800 on
Friday’.
215