12 May 2011 Last updated at 16:43 GMT
Iraq inquiry: Campbell dossier evidence questioned
Tony Blair appearing before the Iraq inquiry The inquiry is examining why the
UK went to war in Iraq in 2003
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* Campbell defends Iraq war dossier
* Iraq inquiry: Day-by-day timeline
A senior ex-intelligence official has disputed Alastair Campbell's evidence
about a dossier which outlined the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.
Tony Blair's ex-spokesman told the Iraq inquiry last year the September 2002
document was designed to set out UK concerns, not "make the case for war".
But Michael Laurie said those producing it "saw it exactly as that and that was
the direction we were given".
Mr Campbell had said he had "nothing to add" to the evidence he had given.
The Iraq report is due later this year and the inquiry panel, headed by Sir
John Chilcot, is currently considering all the material it has received -
including de-classified documents and evidence given during more than 100
public hearings over the past 18 months.
Among fresh documents it published on Thursday was a letter from Michael
Laurie, a member of the Defence Intelligence Staff in the run-up to the March
2003 invasion.
'Defended every word'
In the letter, written in response to evidence given by Mr Campbell in January
2010, he disputes Mr Campbell's explanation for the motivation behind the
dossier on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
As No 10 director of communications between 1997 and 2003, Mr Campbell played a
key role in the dossier - which contained the controversial claim that WMD
could be deployed in 45 minutes of an order to use them.
In his evidence, Mr Campbell said he "defended every single word" of the
document and that it did not "in any sense misrepresent the situation" with
regard to Iraq at the time.
Continue reading the main story
"Start Quote
We knew at the time that the purpose of the dossier was precisely to make a
case for war rather than setting out the available intelligence"
End Quote Michael Laurie Former intelligence official
* Iraq inquiry: Day-by-day timeline
Describing it as a "cautious" assessment, he insisted it had not been designed
to present the "case for war" but to highlight why Mr Blair was increasingly
concerned about the threat posed by Iraq.
But Mr Laurie - who was responsible for delivering intelligence material on
Iraq to assessment teams within the Ministry of Defence - said he disagreed
with Mr Campbell's argument.
"Alastair Campbell said to the inquiry that the purpose of the dossier was not
to "make a case for war," he wrote. "I had no doubt at this time this was
exactly its purpose and these very words were used."
He added: "We knew at the time that the purpose of the dossier was precisely to
make a case for war rather than setting out the available intelligence."
A similar document produced six months earlier had been rejected as it had "not
made a strong enough case", he claimed.
"From then until September we were under pressure to find intelligence that
could reinforce the case."
'Direction and pressure'
But despite what he said was probably the most thorough "scrutiny of every
piece of ground" in Iraq, he said intelligence experts could find no evidence
of planes, missiles or any equipment related to WMD.
He also suggested the Joint Intelligence Committee ultimately responsible for
producing and signing off the dossier had come under "direction and pressure" -
something Mr Campbell has always strongly disputed.
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Alastair Campbell giving evidence
"During the drafting of the final dossier, every fact was managed to make it as
strong as possible, the final statements reaching beyond the conclusions
intelligence assessments would normally draw from such facts."
The dossier included a foreword by Mr Blair in which he wrote that he believed
the intelligence had established "beyond doubt" that Iraq continued to produce
chemical weapons.
Mr Campbell, who drafted the first version of the foreword - ultimately
approved by Mr Blair - said no-one in intelligence challenged this statement.
However, on the 45-minute claim, which was retracted after the war, he has said
the dossier "obviously" could have been clearer about it referring to
battlefield munitions.
Autumn report
Questions about Mr Campbell's role in the dossier were at the centre of a
post-war row with the BBC culminating in the death of the government weapons
expert Dr David Kelly and the subsequent Hutton inquiry.
The BBC News Channel's chief political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said Mr
Campbell had said he had "nothing to add" to evidence he had given to the
inquiry.
He said the dossier was not about making the case for war but had set out why
the government had become more concerned about Iraq's weapons. He added he had
"never met Gen Laurie".
She added that most people had strongly-held views about the Iraq conflict
which were unlikely to change eight years after the US-led invasion.
The Iraq Inquiry, which is examining the decision to go to war and lessons
learnt in Iraq policy between 2001 and 2009, also disclosed on Thursday that
its final report will not be published until the autumn at the earliest.
In February its chairman refused to set a deadline but publication had been
expected in the summer.
On Thursday, Sir John Chilcot said the committee now hoped "to present our
report to the prime minister later this year but not before Parliament's summer
recess".
"Writing a report covering so wide and complex a time period necessarily takes
time.
"Whilst writing the report, we are also simultaneously seeking the
declassification of much relevant material so the public will understand why
and how the inquiry has reached its conclusions.
"If the Iraq Inquiry chooses to make criticisms, as is the case with all public
inquiries, this would necessarily involve further processes to give those
criticised the opportunity to respond.
"We cannot predict now how long that would take."
More on This Story
Related Stories
* Campbell defends Iraq war dossier 12 JANUARY 2010, UK POLITICS
* Iraq inquiry: Day-by-day timeline 12 MAY 2011, UK POLITICS
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