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UK government admits failure to foresee Iraq insurgency

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, July 27, IRNA
UK Report-Iraq War
The British government acknowledged Wednesday that lessons must be learnt on how to plan for post- conflict situations after admitting that it had failed to foresee the scale of the insurgency in Iraq.

"While some planning took place to deal with likely disaffection following the invasion of Iraq an insurgency on the scale that subsequently followed was not foreseen," the government said in response to criticisms from the parliamentary Defense Committee.

In a report in March, the all-party committee criticized the US- led coalition for paying "inadequate attention" to border security and for failing to appreciate the potential for insurgency to attract foreign fighters.

It also condemned any abuse of Iraqi civilians by UK forces, but the government insisted it was only a "tiny minority" that had been involved in alleged incidents and that all allegations were taken seriously.

The committee of MPs said the post conflict stage was marred by mistakes and misjudgments and also warned that British troops would have to remain in Iraq until at least 2006 because that was the earliest date Iraq's security forces would be able to take over.

In its response, the government did not specify a date for withdrawal but agreed UK forces were likely to stay in Iraq at the invitation of the government "until they are confident that Iraqi Security Forces can provide the necessary security."
It admitted that the post-conflict phase of operations in Iraq had been "particularly challenging" because of the "determined insurgency" aimed at undermining the "emerging Iraqi government." With regard to the MPs expressing concern about the level of small arms ownership among the Iraqi population, the British government acknowledged this was a "very common feature of Iraqi society."
It blamed Saddam Hussein's regime for handing out weapons ahead of the invasion "to create conditions for insurrection" and said that any attempt by the coalition to systematically take away small arms "would have met with stiff resistance."
HC/1412