London's failure to prepare its troops properly for the postwar situation in Iraq stretched the force to its limit and cost it goodwill with Iraqis, according to a parliamentary report published on Tuesday.
The Defense Select Committee said that the military operation in Iraq was a "notable success", but added that poor planning, equipment shortages and communication problems placed troops under pressure both during and after the conflict.
Defense Minister Adam Ingram said Tuesday that the ministry has already acknowledged logistical problems in its own report, entitled "Lessons for the Future."
"I don't think there's anything new in the report," Ingram told BBC Radio. "I think we are on the case and already some remedial action is being taken."
The Defense Select Committee, which scrutinizes the work of Britain's Ministry of Defense, said that Britain failed to plan adequately for the end of the war, and "squandered Iraqi goodwill" by being slow to stop looting, the report added.
It added that the occupation failed to guard munition dumps properly following the fall of Baghdad. Such a failure "cost Iraqi civilian lives and also provided potential enemies ... with a ready stock of easily accessible weaponry."
The report also addressed problems with the supply of equipment to troops.
Body armor, nuclear, biological and chemical suits and desert uniforms all failed to reach some troops on the front line, and some tanks and other armored vehicles never received filters to protect against nuclear, chemical and biological contamination.
"The fact that this operation was a notable military success should not blind us to the very real difficulties which our armed forces had to cope with in terms of hurried deployment, inadequate supplies and a lack of time for proper in-theater training," said committee chairman Bruce George. (Albawaba.com)
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