9.5 |
June 2006 to 27 June 2007
to clarify
some of Maliki’s proposals during his visit earlier this week (the
exact role
of the five
man committee he has appointed, and what the Basra Security
plan
Casey will
offer to Maliki will look like), but the overall impact was very
positive and
gives us
the central government buy‑in that we need. It also gives us the
basis for a
more
confident approach on political outreach to Sadr, combined with a
harder line
on the
Mahdi Army.”
9.
In a video
conference with President Bush on 6 June, Mr Blair said that
he thought
that the
new government had about three months to show that it could make
a
difference.4
He
suggested that the lack of experience of delivering plans within
the
government
meant that the US and UK should “shepherd” implementation very
closely.
10.
On 6 June,
Mr Blair had a private meeting with Mr Des Browne, the
Defence
Secretary,
on Iraq and Afghanistan.5
11.
Sir Nigel
Sheinwald, Mr Blair’s Foreign Policy Adviser, reported after
the meeting
that
Mr Blair had asked Mr Browne to focus on the situation in
Basra in order to:
“… make
sure that the political and military strategies were aligned and
proceeding
together.
This required micro‑management. We had been slow to grip the
situation
there, but
now needed: to get on top of the gaps in equipment and training for
the
Iraqi
forces; a plan for getting Iraqi forces on to the streets; and a
new political
dispensation
given the interest now being shown by Iraqi national
figures.”
12.
Mr Browne
agreed to take on that role, and also to continue to co‑ordinate
media
activity on
Iraq, which Mr Blair said needed to be reinvigorated.
Mr Blair said that he
intended to
use the next meeting of the Defence and Overseas Policy
Committee’s
Sub‑Committee
on Iraq (DOP(I)) to “divvy up Ministerial responsibility for
different parts
of the Iraq
strategy”.
On 7 June,
the leader of Al‑Qaida in Iraq (AQ‑I), Abu Musab al‑Zarqawi, was
killed by US
forces in
an airstrike on a house 8km north of Baquba.6
Mr Blair
relayed reports of his death at the Cabinet meeting the following
day.7
Briefing
supplied to Mr Blair’s Private Secretary suggested that the UK
“played a leading
part in
highlighting significant contacts around Zarqawi”.8
4
Letter
Banner to Hayes, 6 June 2006, ‘Prime Minister’s VTC with President
Bush, 16 May[sic]: Middle
East
issues’.
5
Minute
Sheinwald to Banner, 8 June 2006, ‘Iraq and
Afghanistan’.
6
BBC
News, 8 June
2006, Zarqawi
killed in Iraq air raid.
7
Cabinet
Conclusions, 8 June 2006.
8
Letter to
Banner, 8 June 2006, ‘Death of Zarqawi: […]’.
3