MAYDAY:Campbell did redraft Iraq dossier
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http://www.sundayherald.com/36214
Campbell did redraft Iraq dossier
Hutton releases 6000 pages of documents which show Blair's spin chief
actively involved in rewriting case for war
By Neil Mackay and Stephen Naysmith
A STAGGERING 6000 pages of documents released yesterday afternoon by the
Hutton Inquiry include e-mails from Number 10 and briefing papers that
confirm Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's communications chief, had been
actively involved in discussions on the compilation of the Iraq dossier
with John Scarlett, chairman of the joint intelligence committee (JIC).
Campbell wrote: "I had many discussions with the chairman of the JIC on
presentational issues arising from the dossier and, in common with other
officials, made drafting suggestions as the document evolved through
various drafts."
That contradicts the evidence he gave to the inquiry last week, when
Campbell had been at pains to play down the role he and other officials
played in compiling the dossier, stressing that it was essentially the
work of the JIC. He had said that he had "no input, output or influence"
on the dossier at any stage and that his own contributions had been
"observations" rather than 'suggestions" while e-mails from other
officials commenting on the dossier had been no more than "office
chatter".
In another note to Blair, he emphasised that the "intelligence
judgments" in the dossier were entirely the work of the JIC and that
there was "no question of interference with them" by Downing Street.
"The allegations that I 'sexed up" the document and in so doing abused
intelligence is one that I reject entirely, and I have the support of
the chairman of the JIC, and the head of the SIS [the Secret
Intelligence Service, or MI6] in so doing," he said.
The note is apparently a draft because he adds in parentheses: "John,
are you happy with this (and can you check that Richard is)". John
presumably refers to Scarlett while Richard is Sir Richard Dearlove, the
chief of SIS.
In an e-mail to Scarlett, dated September 18, 2002 " days before the
dossier was published " Campbell appeared to acknowledge the degree of
pressure coming from Number 10.
"Sorry to bombard on this point, but I do worry that the nuclear section
will become the main focus and as currently drafted is not in great
shape," he said.
An e-mail the following day from the Downing Street chief of staff,
Jonathan Powell, expressed concern about the proposed wording of the
Prime Minister's forward to the dossier. "I don"t like the first
sentence which makes him sound a bit James Bondy. Can we discuss"" he
said.
In a speed-read of the documents published yesterday, the Sunday Herald
has also found:
Downing Street was sent into panic over what Dr David Kelly might tell
the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) when he appeared before MPs to
answer questions about his conversations with BBC reporters.
Kelly was "briefed" and "prepared" by government officials and told not
to give the FAC his views on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
programme.
A summary of Kelly's evidence, given in private to the Commons
Intelligence and Security Committee, showed that Kelly believed there
was only a "30% probability" that the Iraqis had usable weapons.
Kelly said the claim in the Prime Minister's September dossier that
Saddam could deploy WMD in just 45 minutes was "unwise" and was included
for "impact".
The documents also reveal Campbell urged Tony Blair to be "more
combative" in dealing with criticism of the plans for war.
In a lengthy briefing note from Campbell to Blair telling the Prime
Minister how to handle critics, Campbell accuses the BBC of trying to
"contaminate" Blair's success as a war leader.
The documents also include a second note from Campbell to the Prime
Minister urging Blair to allow him to give evidence to the FAC because
of his role in chairing a key committee involved in compiling the
government's dossier on Iraqi weapons.
The first note dated June 3 " five days after the BBC report claiming
the Government had 'sexed up" its dossier on Iraqi weapons " was
intended to prepare Blair for Prime Minister's Questions and a Commons
statement the following day.
In it, Campbell said that the Prime Minister's aim should be to "calm
the frenzy" following the BBC story and rebuild support for the
government's basic position on Iraq.
"A week of denials has not taken us very far forward because the media,
particularly the BBC, are trying to create a "no smoke without fire"
atmosphere," he wrote.
"As to the manner in which you deal with it, it must be calm, confident,
explanatory and thorough. But when you go on to the broader issues, in
particular reporting back on Iraq, I think you should display a more
combative approach."
Campbell warned Blair that he was facing rising opposition to the war on
all sides. "What is clearly happening here is that the relatively more
sober coverage of the war is giving way to the more usual frenzied
media, and the aim of our opponents is to contaminate the success you
had as a war leader in Iraq," he said.
"So those who opposed you then want to justify the opposition then "
that goes for some of our MPs, BBC, the left-leaning press. Those who
supported you, like the right-wing press, want to look for reasons to
regret their support and detach you from Bush."
In the second note, dated June 22, Campbell spells out to Blair why he
should be allowed to give evidence to MPs on the Foreign Affairs
Committee because of his "own personal role" in events.
"I believe there are legitimate questions to ask and that I am well
placed to answer them, having chaired the Iraqi Communications Group in
the run up to conflict," he said.
The documents also suggest that even as the Ministry of Defence was
preparing to confirm Kelly's name to journalists, there were concerns in
Whitehall that he may not have been the source of the BBC story by Today
programme journalist Andrew Gilligan.
Powell noted in an e-mail to Scarlett dated July 9: "A source in the BBC
has told us that Gilligan's source is in fact in the Cabinet Office.
This might well be a blind. But is there any reason to think there could
be any truth in that" Have phone logs been looked at etc""
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