The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
253.
Mr Blair
suggested that “a sense of urgency” was needed in US and UK
strategy
for Iraq,
which should include:
•
a major
political agreement;
•
a security
plan; and
•
a plan to
increase the capability of the Iraqi Government.
254.
Mr Hadley
explained that the US hoped that the forthcoming
Baker/Hamilton
Report
would be a vehicle for producing a new plan for Iraq with
cross‑party support
in the
US.
255.
Lt Gen Lamb
expressed his views about the withdrawal of civilian staff in
his
weekly
report of 5 November:
“… while I
understand but do not necessarily agree with the reasons for
the
relocation
of the PRT, and the way the draw down of FCO staff in Basra took
place,
the
interpretation up here was that the case, haste and timing was
unhelpful.
US cries of
non‑consultation (not strictly true) and its impact on key issues
that
materially
affect the wider coalition … a number of those who were actually
capable
of making
the material difference, such as in capacity building, are no
longer
present. US
comments such as ‘I see the Brits are doing their own thing again’
from
both the
military and Embassy do count in a coalition where our currency for
making
change is
often our opinion … 168 days ago, it may have mattered less but
the
moment we
gained a Shia Prime Minister, the profile of our ‘independence’
down
south
changed inexorably. Our actions now have a direct relationship with
those in
Baghdad, as
does our … [plan for military force levels] within the emerging
coalition
campaign.
Our performance was hardly a ‘comprehensive approach’ and was, I
felt,
256.
Maj Gen Lamb’s
report also reflected concerns from the US military in
Iraq
that the
mid-term elections would create an additional overhead in
responding to an
increased
number of questions and enquiries. He also offered a view on how
reasonable
governance
objectives in Iraq might be defined, as:
“…
supplying the Iraqis with the capability to deliver what
constitutes a progressive
(slowly at
first), Islamic
(a
given) nation
(ideally
but co‑federation could work) is
where the
governance goal posts probably lie.”
257.
On 5 November,
Mr Blair wrote a note which said:
“The next
few months are critical for foreign policy. Iraq in
particular.”150
149
Minute Lamb
to CDS, 5 November 2006, ‘SBMR‑I Weekly Report (234) 5 Nov
06’.
150
Note Blair,
5 November 2006, ‘Note’.
50