9.2 | 23
May 2003 to June 2004
157.
Baroness Amos
visited Iraq at the end of June. She provided her
immediate
impressions
to Mr Blair on 27 June and a detailed report with
recommendations for
action on 2
July. Her Principal Private Secretary reported separately on
meetings with
Mr Vieira
de Mello and Ambassador Bremer.
158.
In her
detailed report, Baroness Amos noted that security in Baghdad was
fragile,
with
attacks on US troops on an almost daily basis, and remained a key
concern
for Iraqi
people.63
The
situation appeared to be worsening; it was the
overwhelming
and
immediate priority without which “little else will be possible”.
Security concerns
had reached
such a level that the UN planned to scale back its representation
in
Baghdad by
one third to a total of 200 staff. As a result, Baroness Amos
recommended
re‑considering
the case for additional troops on the ground – either Coalition or
Iraqi.
159.
The attached
report said:
“ … in CPA
itself, there are still too many people with the wrong skill set –
policy
focus
rather than operational expertise, and insufficient experience of
post-conflict
developing
country situations.”
160.
Baroness Amos
therefore recommended:
“We need
more UK people with political skills on the ground. These should be
Arabic
speakers,
with knowledge of the region, to strengthen capacity in CPA South
and
CPA
Baghdad.”
161.
But this
approach brought risk:
“UN workers
reported that increasingly Iraqis were beginning to lump all
foreigners
together.
It is just a matter of time before international civilians are
caught up in
these
attacks [on US troops].”
162.
In her report,
Baroness Amos also highlighted the need to agree and
communicate
to the
Iraqi people a clear timetable for the political transition to
Iraqi self-government.
She
observed that:
“Until
Iraqis can see that we are serious about handing authority back to
them, and
can see a
defined process leading to the withdrawal of Coalition Forces, they
will
continue to
doubt our intent and the reasons for our continuing
presence.”
163.
Baroness Amos
asked Mr Blair to raise with President Bush in their
telephone
conversation
scheduled for 3 July the urgent need to get a grip on the security
situation
as well
as:
“… the need
for a public and well communicated timetable for the political
transition
to Iraqi
self-government. An immediate objective would be to transfer
maximum
authority
to Iraqi ‘ministers’ appointed by the Governing Council – we should
put
Iraqis in
charge of helping to sort out the problems that Iraq
faces.”
63
Letter Amos
to Prime Minister, 2 July 2003, [untitled] attaching Paper, ‘Iraq:
Visit Report’.
231