Concentrate on Post War Iraq

HUGH URGES GOVERNMENT TO CONCENTRATE ON POST WAR IRAQ

Hugh Robertson who was Adjutant of a main battle tank regiment during the 1991 Gulf War, predicts that the impending war with Iraq will be over quickly, possibly in days.

"But that is when the problems really start," he says.

That is why he is urging the government to concentrate its efforts on post conflict Iraq.

Hugh said: "During the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqi army was badly led, poorly equipped and could not wait to surrender. An Iraqi soldier I met, who had been conscripted on return from a business trip in Paris, asked me why we had not come earlier! Despite the inevitable extra complications of invading a country, rather than driving an occupying army out of someone else's country. I do not expect the Iraqi army to present much resistance.

"Therefore, it is vital that we have a plan for immediate humanitarian aid and the subsequent economic and political reconstruction of Iraq.

"I can see seven sources of instability. Internally there is scope for conflict with revenge attacks on the Baath party, the position of the Kurds and the Marsh Arabs and the fate of the oil fields. Externally there are potential problems with Iran, Turkey and Syria.

"I fully expect the government has been focussing on the immediate problem and is not prepared for the huge problems of post conflict Iraq."