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Panel clears blair Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2003/09/12/iraq_dossier_did_not_overstate_panel_says/http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2003/09/12/iraq_dossier_did_not_overstate_panel_says/
Iraq dossier did not overstate, panel says
By Ed Johnson, Associated Press, 9/12/2003
LONDON -- The British government did not overstate Saddam Hussein's weapons capability before the Iraq war, but should have stressed that his regime was not an immediate threat to Britain, a parliamentary committee said yesterday.
The panel also said intelligence officials warned Blair that invading Iraq could increase the terrorist threat to the West. It said the collapse of Hussein's regime would improve the chances of terrorist groups obtaining chemical or biological weapons.
The committee said Prime Minister Tony Blair had said that "there was obviously a danger that in attacking Iraq you ended up provoking the very thing you were trying to avoid."
"On the other hand, I think you had to ask the question, could you really, as a result of that fear, leave the possibility that in time this developed into a nexus between terrorism and WMD in an event?" the report quoted Blair as saying. "This is where you've just got to make your judgment and it remains my judgment, and I suppose time will tell whether it's true or it's not true."
The Intelligence and Security Committee said the government dossier that outlined Iraq's weapons capability lacked detail about the size of Iraq's illicit arsenal and could have confused the public.
It cleared Blair's office, however, of claims it deliberately overstated the case for war and ran roughshod over intelligence officials who were concerned parts of the report were faulty. Those allegations sparked a furor that turned into the worst crisis of Blair's six years in power.
It was the second report in as many months to clear the government office of massaging intelligence and a major victory for Blair. Despite criticism of Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon, it appeared no one in the government would be forced to resign because of the outcry.
The government, however, remains under pressure because coalition forces in Iraq haven't found any evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. It also faces further investigation when the judicial inquiry into the apparent suicide of weapons adviser David Kelly resumes next week.
The report did say the dossier should have reflected that intelligence chiefs were unsure of the size of Hussein's chemical and biological stockpile. And it criticized the government's presentation of the claim Iraq could launch chemical and biological weapons at 45 minutes' notice.
It said the dossier should have explained the 45-minute claim referred only to short-range artillery rather than long-range missiles.
"We believe that this uncertainty should have been highlighted to give a balanced view of Saddam's chemical and biological capacity," the report said. The committee, drawn from both houses of Parliament, also was critical of Hoon and said his ministry had been "unhelpful and potentially misleading" by initially failing to disclose that some of its staff expressed concerns.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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