The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
On 6 May, a
Lynx helicopter exploded in mid-air over Basra, killing all five of
its crew.341
There were
difficulties recovering the wreckage and the bodies of those killed
because of
public
disorder, attributed to increasing hostility towards UK forces in
Basra at the time.
Eye-witness
accounts suggested that the explosion was caused by the aircraft
being fired
on from the
ground.
Maj Gen
Cooper reported that the crowds had numbered only 200-300
individuals at
their
height and the situation had been brought under control within two
or three hours.342
It seemed
likely that the attack had been “perpetrated by rogue elements of
JAM”.
Maj Gen
Cooper reminded colleagues in London that, despite the significance
and tragedy
of the loss
of the Lynx and its crew, “in tactical terms the threat remains
higher on the
ground than
in the air”.343
The Board
of Inquiry into the Lynx crash concluded in June 2006 that the
helicopter had
been shot
down in a hostile attack, using man-portable surface to air missile
(MANPAD)
708.
There was
concern that the Lynx incident was evidence of technology
transfer.
Lt Gen
Fry observed in his weekly report that:
“… if there
is evidence of MANPAD technology transfer following the
route
established
by EFP [Explosively Formed Projectile] it will certainly …
reinforce the
Zelikow345
hypothesis
that Basra is vital ground, to be held by coalition forces
until
the latter
stages of the campaign”.346
709.
Lt Gen Fry
reported that Gen Casey had recommended a security initiative
in
Basra to
match those in Baghdad and Ramadi.
710.
After visiting
Iraq in early May, Air Chief Marshal Jock Stirrup, who had
become
Chief of
the Defence Staff in April 2006, reported to Dr Reid
that:
“… there
was no Basra insurgency, levels of violence in the city were well
down on
the other
‘red provinces’, and with different provincial leadership the
prospects could
improve
significantly.”347
341
Final
report JHC/4022, 20 June 2006, ‘Aircraft Crash – Lynx AH Mk
7(XZ614) of 847 NAS in Basra,
Iraq 06
May 06’. Those killed were Wing Commander John Coxen, Lieutenant
Commander Darren
Chapman,
Captain David Dobson, Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill and
Marine Paul Collins.
342
Letter
McNeil to Banner, 12 May 2006, ‘Iraq: Update’ attaching ‘GOC
MND(SE) – Southern Iraq update –
10 May
2006’.
343
Minute
Cooper, 10 May 2006, ‘Iraq: Update’ attaching ‘GOC MND(SE) –
Southern Iraq Update –
10 May
2006’.
344
Final
report JHC/2022, 20 June 2006, ‘Aircraft crash – Lynx AH Mk
7(XZ614) of 847 NAS in Basra,
Iraq 06
May 06’.
345
Philip
Zelikow, then a Counsellor at the US State Department.
346
Minute Fry
to PSO/CDS, 7 May 2006, ‘SBMR-I Weekly Report (210): 7 May
2006’.
347
Minute
Stirrup to SofS [MOD], 8 May 2006, ‘CDS Visit to Iraq and
Afghanistan – 5-7 May 06’.
604