9.7 | May
2008 to October 2009
had decided
to take action in Basra. UK troops had taken on a more active
training
and
mentoring role, with around 1,000 UK personnel currently embedded
in Iraqi units.
Levels of
violence had reduced significantly and life in Basra was returning
to normal.
The UK was
pursuing four key functions:
•
UK forces
had moved from a combat to an overwatch role. UK troops’
primary
role was
training and mentoring Iraqi forces, with a last resort
intervention
capability,
although that was also gradually being taken over by
Iraq.
•
Pursuing
economic development, which was showing some evidence
of
success,
providing Iraqi citizens with work and a stake in their
future.
•
Local
government elections, which would give former members of the
militia
the opportunity
to engage in democratic politics.
•
Working to
transfer Basra Airport from military to civilian
control.
150.
Mr Brown
said that the Basra Development Commission would produce
an
economic
plan in the autumn and he hoped that local elections and the
handover of
Basra
Airport would take place by the end of the year. Training of 14
Division should
also be
completed by the end of the year, with additional training of
headquarters and
specialist
functions required in early 2009. Mr Brown “expected that we
would be able
to make
substantial reduction in the number of British forces next year,
but that would
depend on
circumstances. He was not going to make an estimate of the numbers
now.”
151.
Finally,
Mr Brown told Cabinet that the UK would be working to sign “a
new
agreement”
with the Iraqi Government, and he would tell the House of Commons
that
the UK
would be “ready to move to a new relationship in the first half of
next year”.
152.
Summing up,
Mr Brown concluded that whilst some militia activity in Iraq
was
“inevitable”,
in general “security had significantly improved”. A new agreement
with
the Iraqi
Government would require “significant negotiation” and the Armed
Forces
would need
a legal basis for operations post-December. If the UK had left Iraq
a few
months ago,
the job would not have been finished; with the improvements in
security,
momentum
for economic development and a move towards local democracy once
the
elections
were held, the Iraqi people now felt that they had a stake in the
future.
153.
The House of
Commons Defence Committee published a report into UK
operations
in Iraq on
22 June, before Mr Brown made his statement.55
154.
The report
concluded that following the Charge of the Knights, a high
degree
of security
had been restored to Basra and “the preconditions are in place for
political
progress
and economic recovery”. However, “the UK Government must ensure
that
it
continues to provide support to the ISF to ensure that the progress
which has been
made is not
lost and that Basra does not slip back into
instability”.
55
Fifteenth
Report from the House of Commons Defence Committee, Session
2007-2008, UK
Operations in
Iraq and the
Gulf,
HC982.
405