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Telegragh, Rosa Prince, 19 Februaury 2008 The "dodgy dossier" on Iraq which the Government claimed gave the intelligence agencies' case for war bore a striking resemblance to a draft by a Government spin doctor, it emerged on Monday. First draft of the dodgy dossier John Williams on dodgy judgments The public was finally allowed to compare the two documents more than six years after they were drawn up after the release of a draft by John Williams, a former Foreign Office press officer.
Opposition politicians said the report proved that the case for war had been based on the arguments and rhetoric of spin doctors rather than an impartial analysis by intelligence experts.
When the final dossier was published on Sept 24 2002, six months before the start of the war, Tony Blair, then prime minister, said the intelligence services had left him in no doubt that Saddam posed a "serious and current" threat. He also claimed the dictator was capable of launching weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes of giving the order. Neither allegation was later substantiated by the intelligence services. Ministers were keen to stress that the dossier had been drawn up by the Joint Intelligence Committee. But critics last night seized upon the similarities between the draft written by Mr Williams and the final version. Ministers had fought for three years to block publication, saying advice from civil servants should stay confidential. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, released it at noon on Monday in response to a Freedom of Information tribunal ruling. Written in far stronger language than the September dossier, Mr Williams's file includes several claims included in the final draft. However, it does not make the 45-minute allegation. William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said: "This is yet further evidence that spin doctors, not intelligence analysts, were leading from the first in deciding what the British people were told about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction." Ministers were forced to withdraw the 45-minute claim when no WMDs were found. After the BBC accused Alastair Campbell, the Downing Street director of communications, of "sexing-up" the dossier to justify the war, the row threatened to bring down the Government. It also led to the suicide of Dr David Kelly, the apparent source for the story. £3bn hole in budget may lead to defence cuts British soldier killed in Afghan attack The subsequent Hutton inquiry ruled important caveats to intelligence reports had been removed from the dossier, but cleared Mr Campbell of "sexing" it up. However, the Hutton report was labelled a whitewash in many quarters. Mr Williams's draft, which is marked "confidential", is peppered with scribbled annotations. Like the September dossier, it claims Iraq has stockpiles of chemical weapons. At one point it says: "What does this chemical do to the body - how does it kill? Sorry to be grisly, but this will have real impact on real people, not journalists who take it all as read." Officials insist Mr Williams's draft was set aside once the then chairman of the JIC, Sir John Scarlett, was given responsibility for the document. Mr Williams, who had argued for the draft's release, said he wished he had never written the memo as he had opposed the invasion from the start. |
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