The government failed to agree and implement a coherent plan for the post-conflict phase in Iraq, a committee of MPs has said.

In a 92-page report the Commons defence committee highlights a "series of mistakes and misjudgements" by the UK and its coalition partners since the end of the Iraq war.

In the damning report the committee says that large numbers of UK forces can expect to remain in Iraq until 2006 at the earliest, and it calls on the UN and the EU to expand their presence on the ground.

While they point to "impressive" performance in some areas, the MPs conclude that the government failed to plan adequately for the large-scale reconstruction task and did not give enough priority to reform of the country’s security forces.

As a result the reconstruction effort has been slow and subject to repeated challenges from insurgent groups.

Failure

The committee also warns that the MoD and the Foreign Office failed to accurately predict that the presence of coalition troops in a foreign country would be seen as "cultural and economic imperialism" by some sections of Iraqi society.

While the committee says the UK was successful in containing insurgency in the southern areas around Basra, it warns that UK forces were asked to manage tasks "beyond what should normally be expected" of military organisations.

Problems were compounded by a "lack of central coordination and a focus on simple numerical targets rather than the development of real capabilities".

"Although more recently there have been encouraging signs of improvement, Iraq security forces cannot yet sustain responsibility for operations carried out in their name," says the committee.

The report also warns that the coalition failed to monitor borders effectively – a failure which led to insurgents coming in from countries as far away as Chechnya.

"We are concerned at the influx of foreign fighters into Iraq and note that this was probably facilitated by the inadequate attention paid to border security by the coalition immediately following the invasion," says the report.

Lost time

The committee also criticises the current arrangements for deploying civil agencies – often police officers – to post-conflict relief operations.

It warns that "time has been lost" in establishing an Iraqi army capable of responding to the challenges faced in the country

And the report calls on the MoD to conduct a "comprehensive study" of the lessons learned in post-conflict Iraq.

Hampered

Committee chairman Bruce George said the achievements seen in Iraq have been hampered by the failure to plan adequately for the post-conflict situation.

"The significant progress that has been made in Iraq, especially in the British sector in the south, has come about largely through the professionalism, flexibility and pragmatism of the British armed forces," he said.

"But for the future the UK needs a comprehensive post-conflict planning capability.

"Leveraging the UK's response to post-conflict challenges will also require better integration with our allies' planning processes."

Wishful thinking

Shadow defence secretary Nicholas Soames said his party had "consistently warned" the government about the dangerous lack of a coherent plan for post-conflict Iraq.

"This serious failure clearly set the reconstruction of Iraq back by at least a year and resulted in further suffering for the people of Iraq," he said.

"Our remarkable troops should be warmly commended for their approach and tactics used to bridge the gap between the government's wishful thinking and the realities on the ground."

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Paul Keetch said the government knew they would win the war, but failed to prepare for peace.

"There was no doubt before the war began that the military conflicts would be over relatively soon.  What coalition forces failed to do was to prepare for the aftermath," he said.
 
"Peacekeeping is much more difficult in some respects than more fighting and we were wrong to disband the Iraqi army, which could have been of assistance to us in the reconstruction process.
 
"This report endorses concerns of the Liberal Democrats that the post-conflict period would be more difficult to deal with than the conflict itself."