Invasion of Iraq was 'catastrophic success as Saddam fell too quickly'

Published on Tuesday 15 December 2009 21:49

THE 2003 invasion of Iraq was a "catastrophic success", the official inquiry into the war has heard.

• Sir Jeremy Greenstock arrives to give evidence. Picture: PA

Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the UK's former special representative to Iraq, said Saddam Hussein was toppled so quickly that US and British forces were left "holding a baby without the materials for looking after it".

He also criticised the planning of the post-invasion period, saying the operation was under- resourced and rushed.

But the inquiry faced fresh questions about its openness yesterday after the live video feed of Sir Jeremy's evidence was halted for more than a minute for reasons of national security.

Explaining his reasons for cutting the broadcast, inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot said: "There was a mention of sensitive information as defined in our published protocols, so we had to interrupt very briefly."

The video feed was stopped as Sir Jeremy was talking about the over-optimistic attitude of Paul Bremer, head of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority set up to run Iraq after the invasion.

However, an audience member told journalists that he went on to say that then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell came to use British intelligence reports about Iraq because they were more accurate than Mr Bremer's upbeat dispatches to Washington.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Edward Davey said the hearings should not be halted to avoid political embarrassment.

"Any suggestion that the inquiry would be party to suppressing political mistakes – whether by Americans or Brits – would be highly damaging to its credibility," he said.

Critics have previously raised concerns about how much of the inquiry is being held behind closed doors.

Sir Jeremy was UK ambassador to the United Nations in the run-up to the war and special representative to Iraq from September 2003 to March 2004.

He told the inquiry in central London there were fears before the start of the Iraq conflict in March 2003 that Saddam could fall too quickly.

"There was a view that our invasion of Iraq could be a catastrophic success," he said.

"That is, it would happen so quickly and Saddam's regime would collapse so fast that we would be left holding a baby without the materials for looking after it. And that indeed is what happened."

The inquiry heard Tony Blair ordered the creation of a post- invasion Iraqi police force within months despite being warned it would take much longer.

On 2 September, 2003, Sir Jeremy attended a meeting with the former prime minister and Sir John Sawers, the UK's former special envoy for Iraq.

They discussed the deteriorating security situation and Mr Blair said he wanted to see the creation of new Iraqi police officers to restore civil order.

Sir Jeremy said: "Sir John and I tried to warn the prime minister that it would take quite a long time to get a decent police force of the necessary size going with decent training from scratch.

"But he said that was his priority and he wanted us to get on with that and see how quickly we could do it.

"We thought it might take a year or so to get a decent police force running. He said, 'Try and do it by the end of 2003 if you possibly can'.

"John and I looked at each other but decided we had better see whether we could do anything to help that. But we realised it was an extremely ambitious request."

Sir Jeremy blamed the impatience of politicians in London and Washington for the failure to create a strong Iraqi police force.

He said: "The sense of hurry that we had from our two capitals militated against the production of well-trained, well-behaved policemen on the ground."

The inquiry continues today.

SILENCE FOILED BY PUBLIC GALLERY

THE dramatic cutting of the live feed to prevent some of Sir Jeremy Greenstock's evidence being broadcast could be undermined by anyone sitting in the public gallery, officials admitted last night.

Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcott halted the broadcast of the hearing on the inquiry's website and to a separate media annex for just over a minute yesterday.

However, a member of the public later revealed that Sir Jeremy went on to say that then-US secretary of state Colin Powell came to use British intelligence reports about the situation in Iraq because they were more accurate than US dispatches to Washington.

Last night, a spokeswoman for the inquiry said the public gallery had not been cleared, but dismissed the audience member's recollection as "speculation". She continued: "It was nothing to with what they think it was. They can speculate on why they think it was stopped."

Asked whether a member of the public could in theory repeat verbatim what was said by those giving evidence during yesterday's or future live feed cuts, she replied: "Yes, but they haven't." She then added: "But they could … but we could brief them if there was a threat to national security."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on 15 June that an inquiry into the war in Iraq was to be carried out to identify what lessons could be learned. The inquiry was officially launched on 30 July and will take evidence over a number of months, with the intention to hold as many as sessions as possible in public.

Seats have been made available for the public and media to attend public evidence sessions.

The iraqinquiry.org.uk website states: "Members of the public will be asked to follow certain standards of behaviour, similar to those in a courtroom, although this is not a judicial inquiry. A leaflet will be given to anyone entering the hearing room outlining these standards."