Intelligence official accuses bosses over dossier
A former Defence Intelligence Staff official has outlined doubts over security chiefs involved with the Iraq Dossier.
Dr Brian Jones has told the Independent that he and his colleagues were overruled by their superiors when the assessment Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons was finalised. .
The dossier that resulted was presented to Parliament as part of the case for war in Iraq. This has since been the subject of controversy, as weapons of mass destruction have not been found in Iraq.
With MPs debating the Hutton Report today, the Independent published a story that suggests that the heads of the intelligence agencies ignored the concerns of DIS staff. As such, Dr Jones claims that the dossier was misleading.
The Hutton Report last week cleared the government of inserting untrue information into the dossier. This has allowed the government to announce plans for an inquiry into possible inaccuracies in the intelligence provided to the government.
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman suggested that this was now possible because a ‘rational’ look at ‘legitimate’ concerns could not have succeeded while accusations of deliberate wrongdoing remained.
The new inquiry is already dogged by controversy about its remit, and Dr Jones has been prompted by this to make his comments to avoid being scapegoat.
Dr Jones told the Hutton Inquiry that he felt some parts of the dossier were “over-egged”. He has now claimed that intelligence chiefs are to blame for this, not Defence Intelligence Staff such as himself.
Meanwhile eleven MPs signed a Commons motion about the choice of Former cabinet secretary Lord Butler to lead the new inquiry.
The Liberal Democrats have refused to take part in the inquiry, after they spent months demanding it. They have argued that it should be allowed to take a closer look at the judgements made on intelligence by ministers.
