The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
828.
In addition,
the JIC considered:
“A further
source of resistance to the Coalition may increasingly be
disaffected Sunni
Arabs – not
necessarily connected to the former regime – who fear Shia
domination
and are
frustrated by lack of money and jobs. Their motivations are
diverse: anti-
Americanism,
Iraqi nationalism, insensitive CF [Coalition Forces] actions,
tribal and
clan
loyalties, criminal financial gain and other grievances. And some
Sunni Arabs
are
increasingly attracted to a radical Islamist
ideology.”
829.
At the end of
March, Sir Jeremy Greenstock concluded his six month tour in
Iraq
and was
succeeded by Mr David Richmond.
830.
Sir Jeremy’s
valedictory telegram entitled ‘Six Months in the Cauldron’ thanked
UK
civilians
and military for their “effective and courageous” work in
Iraq.458
831.
Sir Jeremy
judged that “the majority of the Iraqi people are still with us,
just”
and that
life was beginning to improve for many. But this was not
attributable to
good planning:
“The
preparations for the post-conflict stage were abject; wrong
analysis, wrong
people …
And the volume of resources required on the ground was, and
continues
to be,
misjudged.”
832.
On security,
he judged that the problems “will, alas, not go away when
the
Occupation
ends. The evil-doers … are small in number but lethal in
effect.”
833.
Sir Jeremy
also recorded the important role that Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani
had
played by
using his religious authority as a force for
moderation.
834.
By the end of
March, UK and US officials were discussing the detail of
the
proposed
new Security Council resolution.459
835.
Mr Straw’s
Private Secretary wrote to Mr Blair’s Private Secretary
describing the
resolution’s
key elements as:
•
to welcome
the agreed arrangements for the transfer of full executive
authority
and the
proposed processes during the transition;
•
to specify
the role of the UN during the transition; and
•
to give
additional political cover to the Multi-National Force and develop
its
mandate.
836.
On 31 March,
four employees of the US security firm Blackwater were
ambushed
and killed
while travelling through the town of Fallujah in Anbar
Province.460
458
Telegram
109 IraqRep to FCO London, 26 March 2004, ‘Iraq
Valedictory: Six Months in the Cauldron’.
459
Letter Owen
to Quarrey, 29 March 2004, ‘Iraq: Prime Minister’s VTC with
President Bush: 30 March’.
460
BBC
News, 31 March
2004, Bodies
mutilated in Iraq attack.
342