Blair on Iraq rack as spy chief breaks cover
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/16/1063625034001.htmlBritain's secretive intelligence chief has conceded that criticism of a dossier, setting out Prime Minister Tony Blair's case for war with Iraq, was valid because its most sensational warning was "misinterpreted".
Breaking with precedent, M16 head Sir Richard Dearlove testified via audio-link to the judicial inquiry into the suicide of a weapons expert, which has raised questions about Mr Blair's reasons for war and sent his trust ratings plunging.
Sir Richard said he stood by the intelligence in the September 2002 dossier, but added that a contentious assertion that Iraq could deploy chemical or biological weapons at 45 minutes' notice was only meant to refer to short-range arms.
"Given the misinterpretation placed on the 45-minutes intelligence, with the benefit of hindsight, you could say that was valid criticism," said Sir Richard, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), better known as MI6.
"The original
report referred ... to battlefield weapons. What subsequently happened in the reporting was it was taken that the 45 minutes applied to weapons of a longer range," he said.
The 45-minute claim was the most dramatic element of the dossier that Mr Blair used to counter widespread public opposition to joining a US war against Saddam Hussein.
Mr Blair's team denies it "sexed up" the dossier on the threat posed by Iraq. But five months after Saddam's overthrow, no banned weapons have been found in Iraq.
Sir Richard, whose disembodied voice echoed round the courtroom during his 40-minute testimony, insisted the 45-minutes claim was "a well-sourced piece of intelligence".
snip...
The Government was rocked further at the weekend when a new book claimed that, just days before Iraq was invaded, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw begged Mr Blair not to go to war.
Mr Blair's spokesman said Mr Straw was merely outlining a Plan B if Parliament had voted against war, which it did not.
"That is entirely different to expressing policy differences," he said.
But author John Kampfner, an experienced political journalist, said his work was sourced to interviews with 40 key government figures and was confident about its authenticity.
His report follows a revelation last week that Mr Blair ignored warnings from spy chiefs that war would raise the risk of militants such as al-Qaeda acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
:bounce: Its all falling apart for Blair at home
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