The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
733.
Reporting a
discussion with Lt Gen Chiarelli on 17 May, Maj Gen
Cooper
elaborated
his argument, pointing out that “if conditions were not right now,
what would
change in
the timeframe envisaged for transition in the coming
months?”357
734.
On 22 May, the
ISOG discussed how to draw together a strategic plan to
deliver
the UK’s
objectives in Basra.358
735.
The objectives
were to ensure that Basra:
•
was on
track to being assessed as suitable for transition by the end of
2006 or
early
2007;
•
had
mechanisms in place that were able to develop and deliver
governance and
security
policies through institutions that were broadly acceptable to the
local
population
and effectively linked to the Iraqi central
authorities;
•
enjoyed an
improving level of basic services;
•
was
attracting appropriate investment and other economic
assistance;
•
had “levels
of corruption, criminality and criminal and sectarian violence
below
the point
at which they would seriously undermine governance, security
and
economic
development and popular support for Iraqi governmental
institutions”;
and
•
was not
subject to malign Iranian influence.
736.
The ISOG
concluded that achieving these objectives required:
•
continued
engagement on SSR (see Section 12.1);
•
a
demonstration of grip by the Iraqi Government;
•
strengthened
provincial government;
•
an Iraqi
Government development strategy that supported Basra’s
role;
•
external
investment;
•
containing
corruption to a level that was not undermining; and
•
the UK to
identify policies for security, governance and economic
development
that “can
reasonably be expected to lead to strategic success”.
737.
Ms Margaret
Aldred, Deputy Head of the Overseas and Defence Secretariat in
the
Cabinet
Office, wrote to UK officers and officials working in Basra on 23
May to seek
their input
on “how success can best be achieved”.359
357
Minute
Cooper 17 May 2006, ‘GOC MND (SE) – Southern Iraq Update – 17 May
2006’.
358
Letter
Aldred to Lamb, 23 May 2006, ‘Basra: The Way Forward’ attaching
Note, [undated], ‘Getting
Basra
Better: A Strategic Agenda for Action’.
359
Letter
Aldred to Lamb, 23 May 2006, ‘Basra: The Way Forward’.
610