Intelligence chief: Dossier exaggerated the case for war
Mark K
Intelligence chief: Dossier exaggerated the case for war
Iraqi weapons capability 'was not accurately represented'; concerns over
both content and source of key 45-minute claim
By Kim Sengupta, Paul Waugh and Ben Russell
04 September 2003
Tony Blair's case for invading Iraq was in tatters last night after damning
public criticism by two senior intelligence officials of the way the
September weapons dossier was manipulated by government "spin merchants".
Brian Jones, who headed the intelligence department dedicated to
investigating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programme, told the Hutton
inquiry there was deep disquiet among his colleagues about the way
significant evidence they had supplied for the dossier was altered.
He said evidence in the dossier was "over-egged", the language was too
strong and there were misgivings over the now-infamous claim that Iraq could
launch weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes.
The other official, identified to the Hutton inquiry as "Mr A" and described
as the country's foremost authority on chemical warfare, disclosed how a
claim in the dossier about chemical weapons was inserted despite protests
from him and other experts.
Mr A told the inquiry: "The perception was that the dossier had been round
the houses several times in order to find a form of words that would
strengthen certain political objectives.'' <snip>