Sir John Chilcot’s Iraq war inquiry: “Explosive” evidence from Major General Tim Cross reveals Tony Blair was told “we are not ready” for post-war Iraq, writes the Iraq Inquiry Blogger for Channel 4 News.
Explosive (if that’s not too much of a cliché to use in relation to evidence given at a war inquiry) testimony this afternoon from senior military officer Major General Tim Cross, who was UK representative to the short-lived US Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) in the run-up to the war.
Cross spoke calmly, but gave the impression of having an urgent need to speak out about his experiences in Washington, Kuwait and Baghdad, of the planning and implementation of the reconstruction effort.
Namely, that post-war planning in the US was no way near adequate; and that there was no joined-up strategy or even line of communication in Whitehall to deal with events.
It’s not just a case of speaking with hindsight, though. His testimony included an account both of a lunch with Donald Rumsfeld, at which Cross told the US defence chief he did not believe the planning effort was anywhere near up to scratch, and a conversation with Tony Blair in which Cross told the British PM that although he had no doubt we would win a military campaign, he did not believe we were ready for post-war Iraq.
But as Cross acknowledged, he was only one of a number of people briefing both leaders; Rumsfeld and his team were working in the “paradigm” that they did not really need a plan for Iraq, and were loath to hear views to the contrary.
He also submitted a 26-page written statement alongside his oral evidence.
It contains more details of his encounter with Rumsfeld, experiences in the US and Middle East, and, in conclusion, a long list of questions he feels must be addressed if the UK is to be able to respond better to international crises in future, not least as we are still engaged in Afghanistan.
Follow the evidence minute-by-minute: @iraqinquiryblog