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13th May 2011, 06:35
The former top military intelligence chief has revealed that Tony Blair's WMD Iraq dossier had been definitely written to put “the case for war," the new documents published on Iraq inquiry website have exposed.
Tony Blair's former communications director, Alastair Campbell, rejected the idea that he had struggled to "beef up" the September 2002 dossier on the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
"It was not the case for war, it was the case why the prime minister had become more concerned," Campbell told at the Chilcot Inquiry last year.
However, Michael Laurie, the former Director General of Intelligence Collection in the Defence Intelligence Staff, claimed that Alistair Campbell said to the Inquiry that the purpose of the Dossier was not “to make a case for war.” He said, "I had no doubt at that time this was exactly its purpose and these very words were used.”
“The previous paper, drafted in February and March, known to us then also as the Dossier, was rejected because it did not make a strong enough case. From then until September we were under pressure to find intelligence that could reinforce the case," 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, and that to make the best out of sparse and inconclusive intelligence the wording was developed with care,” he concluded.
The claims were revealed in new documents issued on the Iraq Inquiry website on Thursday. Sir John Chilcot, chairman of the Inquiry to Iraq War said that the final report would not be published sooner than autumn.
source
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/179577.html
Tony Blair's former communications director, Alastair Campbell, rejected the idea that he had struggled to "beef up" the September 2002 dossier on the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
"It was not the case for war, it was the case why the prime minister had become more concerned," Campbell told at the Chilcot Inquiry last year.
However, Michael Laurie, the former Director General of Intelligence Collection in the Defence Intelligence Staff, claimed that Alistair Campbell said to the Inquiry that the purpose of the Dossier was not “to make a case for war.” He said, "I had no doubt at that time this was exactly its purpose and these very words were used.”
“The previous paper, drafted in February and March, known to us then also as the Dossier, was rejected because it did not make a strong enough case. From then until September we were under pressure to find intelligence that could reinforce the case," 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, and that to make the best out of sparse and inconclusive intelligence the wording was developed with care,” he concluded.
The claims were revealed in new documents issued on the Iraq Inquiry website on Thursday. Sir John Chilcot, chairman of the Inquiry to Iraq War said that the final report would not be published sooner than autumn.
source
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/179577.html