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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: UK spy chief denies Iraq war deceit - Got His WMD "Intel" from A Taxi Driver!!! UK spy chief denies Iraq war deceit John Scarlett was in charge of a dossier that said Iraq could deploy WMDs within 45 minutes [GALLO/GETTY] A former British spy chief has denied he was pressured by the government to spice up an intelligence report to help justify the UK's involvement in the Iraq invasion. John Scarlett, who headed the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) in the years leading up to the war, made his comments during a British public inquiry into the Iraq war in London on Tuesday . Scarlett was in charge of a September 2002 dossier which claimed Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes- a claim that later led it to be rebranded as the "dodgy dossier". While Scarlett acknowledged that it would have been "clearer and better" if the dossier had used the word "munitions and not weapons", he denied any intended manipulation. "There was absolutely no conscious intention to manipulate the language or to obfuscate or to create a misunderstanding as to what they might refer to," he told the inquiry. Cab driver claim Earlier on Tuesday, Adam Holloway, a Conservative opposition MP, said the 45-minute claim in the dossier had come from a taxi driver. in depth Iraq inquiry - another whitewash? Video: UK begins Iraq war hearings "It had originated from an emigre taxi driver on the Iraqi-Jordanian border, who had remembered an overheard conversation in the back of his cab a full two years earlier," a report by Holloway said. It added that the government had ignored warnings about the the reliability of the intelligence and the information "went on to become one of the central planks of the dodgy dossier". A previous investigation into pre-war intelligence in Britain said blaming Scarlett for the dossier "would have been unfair in respect of what were collective shortcomings". Scarlett also told Tuesday's hearing that information in the days leading up to the March 2003 invasion suggesting Iraq had disassembled missiles and did not have warheads that could carry chemical or biologicial weapons was not "game-changing". He said the information was taken to be part of the then Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein's policy of concealment. Scarlett, despite criticisms levelled at him over the Iraq war, went onto become the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in 2004, which he held until last month. Critics have suggested the inquiry is not qualified to find the truth, but John Chilcott, the inquiry chairman, has promised there will be no whitewash. Tony Blair, Britain's prime minister during the invasion, is expected to appear at the hearings early next year, with a report on the war issued by the end of 2010. Source: Agencies
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 2.
#1. To: tom007 (#0)
How about his stock tips?
Prolly better than this.
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