The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
said that
coalition forces tried to stay in their barracks and were called
into “population
centres”
only as necessary.
67.
In his note of
the discussion, Sir Nigel Sheinwald recorded that he would follow
up
with
Mr Hadley in order to develop a coherent joint US/UK strategy
on Iraq.
68.
Speaking
during an Adjournment Debate on “Defence in the World” on 7
July,
Dr Reid
told Parliament:
“We have
not set down rigid time lines for the downsizing or withdrawal of
troops.
Rather, we
have made that conditional upon progress on political development
and
security
and, to a lesser extent … economic development. This is not a
prediction or
a pledge,
because our movement of troops will be conditional on the
conditions …
but I have
said that I envisage that the trained complement of the Iraqi army
…
could begin
the process of taking the lead … in some parts of Iraq in the
next
12 months.
We would provide multi-national support for that as long as the
Iraqi
On Thursday
7 July, four suicide bombers struck in central London, killing 52
people and
injuring
more than 770 others.29
Three of
the bombs exploded on Underground trains and
the fourth
on a double-decker bus.
Exactly two
weeks later, on 21 July, three further bombs were placed on
Underground
trains and
a fourth on a bus.30
None of
those devices exploded. A fifth device was found
two days
later abandoned in bushes.
The
Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) examined the attacks and
reported to
Mr Blair
on 30 March 2006.31
The
Report of
the Official Account of the Bombings in
London on 7th
July 2005 was published
on 11 May.
The ISC
wrote that the motivations of the bombers remained “only partly
clear”. The best
indication
of the group’s motivation was offered by a video statement made by
one of
the
bombers, Mr Mohammad Sidique Khan, which had been first aired
by the Al Jazeera
network on
1 September 2005. The Report noted that the focus of the video was
on
“perceived
injustices by the West against Muslims”.
Mr Khan’s
statement included the passage:
“Your
democratically elected governments continuously perpetuate
atrocities against
my people
all over the world.
“And your
support for them makes you directly responsible, just as I am
directly
responsible
for protecting and avenging my Muslim brothers and
sisters.
28
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 7 July
2005, columns 472-473.
29
Report of
the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7th July
2005, 11 May
2006, HC1087.
30
BBC
News,
[undated], London
Attacks: In Depth, 21 July Attacks.
31
Report of
the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7th July
2005, 11 May
2006, HC1087.
500