Blair's Office 'Substantially' Altered Iraq
Dossier By
Andrew Gully 8-17-03
- LONDON (AFP) -- British
Prime Minister Tony Blair's office authorised a "substantial rewrite" of
the government's controversial dossier on Iraq, an inquiry into the
apparent suicide of weapons expert David Kelly heard Monday.
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- Kelly's death is the subject of a parliamentary
inquiry, amid allegations -- reportedly based on the weapons scientist's
evidence -- that the Blair administration exaggerated the case for war
on Iraq.
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- An email from Blair's director of communications
Alastair Campbell to chief-of-staff Jonathan Powell, dated September 5,
disclosed that the dossier was being substantially rewritten ahead of
its publication on September 24.
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- Campbell, 46, is the man accused by BBC journalist
Andrew Gilligan of personally beefing up Downing Street's controversial
dossier on Iraq, aimed at justifying the case for military action ahead
of the March war.
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- Gilligan alleged in a British newspaper article on
June 1 that Campbell, who is set to testify before the probe Tuesday,
was responsible for inserting a sensational claim into the dossier, a
week before its publication, that stated Iraq could deploy chemical or
biological weapons in just 45 minutes.
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- Documents released to the inquiry Monday showed that
the dossier should be altered "as per TB's discussion" -- an apparent
reference to Tony Blair.
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- It said: "Re dossier, substantial rewrite with JS and
Julian M in charge, which JS will take to US next Friday, and be in
shape Monday thereafter. "Structure as per TB's discussion. Agreement
that there has to be real intelligence material in their
presentation."
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- JS apparently referred to John Scarlett, the chairman
of the Joint Intelligence Committee, while Julian Miller was the the
Cabinet Office's chief-of-the-assessment-staff. The US stood for the
United States.
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- Meanwhile a separate email from Powell, also presented
to the inquiry Monday, outlined his misgivings over the dossier on the
potential threat of Iraqi weapons.
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- The government row with the BBC over whether or not
the government "sexed up" the dossier and Kelly's subsequent and
mysterious death have left Blair, who is dwindling badly in opinion
polls, facing his gravest crisis since coming to power in 1997.
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- Kelly apparently committed suicide in July days after
being grilled by two parliamentary committees and after he was named by
the defence ministry as the likely source of Gilligan's reports.
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- "The dossier is good and convincing for those who are
prepared to be convinced," Powell said in an email addressed to
Scarlett.
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- "The document does nothing to demonstrate a threat,
let alone an imminent threat from Saddam," said the e-mail -- dated
September 17 last year -- exactly a week before the dossier was
published.
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- "It shows he (Saddam) has the means but it does not
demonstrate he has the motive to attack his neighbours let alone the
West," Powell said in the e-mail.
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- Now in its second week, the inquiry into Kelly's death
has turned to focus on the role of Blair's office, with the careers of
several officials including Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon hanging in the
balance.
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- The government has faced criticism for identifying
Kelly, a top expert on biological weapons, with concern that failing to
protect the scientist from the ensuing media and political storm may
have contributed to his death.
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- It remains to be seen who will take the political flak
for the crisis, but many commentators have named Hoon as the likely
government scapegoat.
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- The inquiry heard last week that Hoon himself had
overruled the advice of his top civil servant and decided to burden
Kelly with the added pressure of testifying publicly in front of a
parliamentary committee.
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- Blair was also implicated when it emerged that he had
personally ordered Kelly's defence ministry bosses to grill him for a
second time over his contacts with Gilligan.
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- Hoon and Blair, both currently on holiday, are
expected to be summoned to appear at some point before the inquiry, due
to last several more weeks.
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