CHILCOT IRAQ INQUIRY: UK government's plans for post-war Iraq were 'wholly inadequate'

Wissm al-Okili/Reuters

People gather at the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite district of Sadr City, Iraq, May 11, 2016.

The Chilcot Inquiry into the UK's involvement in the Iraq war has concluded that senior politicians and military officials failed to prepare for the post-conflict phase of the operation.

The report which can be found here, said the government recognised just how crucial the post-war phase would be to bringing stability to Iraq, but it failed to prepare properly for the risks and challenges that would follow.

One of these risks was Iraq descending into an era of "political disintegration" which would lead to the emergence of extremist violence. Today, Iraq is plagued by terrorist groups, including the so-called Islamic State (IS).

Other risks that UK officials failed to prepare for were as follows:

• The inadequacy of US plans
• The UK's inability to exert significant influence on US planning
• The reluctance of potential international partners to contribute to the post-conflict effort

The report concludes that Tony Blair's government "failed to analyse or manage those risks adequately" because it lacked two key elements of decision-making: ministerial oversight of post-conflict policy, and effective co-operation between different government departments.

The investigation also found that the evidence used by officials planning for post-war Iraq was "fragmented and incomplete" while many of the sources were unreliable.

Blair recognised the magnitude of the post-war challenge, the report says, but failed to seek assurance from President George Bush about the US' plans for handling post-war Iraq.

The former Labour prime minister also failed to seek important advice on whether the UK's engagement in the war should have been reassessed in the absence of a satisfactory post-war strategy.

More to follow ...