Good morning once again from the cosy confines of the QEII conference centre in London where the Iraq inquiry gets under way shortly. Yesterday’s evidence was very much of a military bent taking us through pre-combat planning to the fall of Baghdad.
With the soldiers’ war “won” – at least as seen from Washington and London – we now move onto how the peace was lost; the ensuing weeks and months in which law and order disintegrated first into looting and crime and thence to armed insurgency.
Just in case Chilcot and Chilcott wasn’t sufficiently confusing during yesterday morning’s evidence today’s hearing welcomes Viggers and Figgures. Lt Gen Sir Frederick Viggers was the senior British military representative in Iraq from May to September 2003; Lt Gen Andrew Figgures took over from then until April 2004.
After that the inquiry focuses on Basra and the south, the region for which (as we learned yesterday) the UK assumed post-war civilian responsibility almost accidentally, and certainly without any great pre-planning.
The committee will hear from Sir Hilary Synnott (CPA regional commander July 2003-Jan 2004), Lt Gen Sir Graeme Lamb (General Officer Commanding Multi-National Division South-East July-Dec 2003 and Senior British Military Adviser to Iraq, Sept 2006-July 2007) and Major General Andrew Stewart (General Officer Commanding Multi-National Division South-East Dec 2003-July 2004). Finally Lamb returns in the afternoon to give an overview titled “Baghdad 2006-2007”.
A colleague reminds me that, like Sir Christopher Meyer before him, Synnott wrote a book about his experiences (Bad Days in Basra: My Turbulent Time as Britain’s Man in Southern Iraq). The Times reviewed it as being “honest, funny but ultimately depressing” – “what he found on his arrival is what we now commonly know as the failure of post-war planning” I imagine that sets the tone for much of today.
It’s probably just me but I must say there’s something peculiarly dissonant about watching the committee debate “lessons learned” while the likes of this continue to happen.
Sermon over, evidence begins shortly.
Live updates on Twitter: @iraqinquiryblog