The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
205.
The IPU also
welcomed news that the CPA Strategic Plan (‘The Vision for
Iraq’)
was almost
ready for publication, and told Mr Sawers that they thought it
had been “lost
in the
weeds”.81
The IPU’s
view was that the document required “some more work …
and clarity”.
206.
On 8 July,
Mr Blair gave evidence to the House of Commons Liaison
Committee.82
207.
Mr Blair
told the Committee that “the fact that we will probably have a
political
council up
and running within the next few weeks, indicates that there is
change and
208.
In response to
a question from Mr Edward Leigh, the Committee Chairman,
about
his exit
strategy for Iraq, Mr Blair replied:
“We stay
until we get the job done. The job is to get the country back on
its feet, to
give it a
proper functioning political system which means that the Iraqis
themselves
in a
representative way control their country and to make sure that it
has the ability
to be a
stable and prosperous partner in the region.”84
209.
Mr Blair
also told the Committee that:
“The
British troop requirement … is already just under a third of what
it was at the
height of
the conflict, so we are not at the same troop strength as we were
even two
months
ago.”
210.
On 9 July,
Cabinet Office officials briefed members of the AHMGIR
that:
“A
Governing
Council should be
established within the next two weeks. The
Council is
likely to meet our core requirements: it will emerge by consensus
among
leading
Iraqis; the main ethnic and religious groups will be represented in
a balanced
way; at
least 4-5 women will be involved … and it will have UN
consent.”85
211.
The same
Annotated Agenda also reported the CPA’s announcement of a
new
Dinar note,
a 1:1 replacement for the Saddam Dinar, Iraq’s pre-conflict
currency.86
But there
were signs that the CPA’s failure to consult had not been
resolved.
Cabinet Office
officials reported:
“Bremer has
also announced the independence of the Iraqi Central Bank
…
the
announcement has taken all by surprise. It is not clear if De Mello
was fully
consulted …
We are trying to clarify the situation.”
81
Telegram 27
FCO London to IraqRep, 7 July 2003, ‘Iraq Priorities’.
82
The Liaison
Committee is appointed to consider general matters relating to the
work of select
committees
and, amongst other duties, to hear evidence from the Prime Minister
on matters of
public policy.
83
House of
Commons, Select Committee on Liaison, Minutes of
Evidence, 8 July
2003, Q168.
84
House of
Commons, Select Committee on Liaison, Minutes of
Evidence, 8 July
2003, Qs189-191.
85 Annotated
Agenda, 10 July 2003, Ad Hoc Group on Iraq Rehabilitation
meeting.
86
The
conversation rate was 150:1 for the Old Dinar (or Swiss Dinar) used
in the Kurdish north.
238