Introduction
45.
The Inquiry
heard from 35 witnesses in private. The circumstances in which
the
Inquiry
agreed to hold private hearings are laid out in the Witness
Protocol. In some
cases,
evidence was heard in private because of a risk of damage to
national security
or other
vital national interests. In others, it was due to the personal
circumstances of
the
witnesses, or because of the organisations for which they worked.
The names of
some
witnesses therefore do not appear, and are replaced by ciphers.
Transcripts of these
sessions,
reviewed and certified by the witnesses as truthful, fair and
accurate, can also
be found on
the Inquiry’s website. In many cases some material has been
redacted by the
Government
in order to prevent potential harm to national security or
international relations.
46.
In order to
hear the experiences of more junior civilian staff who had served
in Iraq
between
2003 and 2009, the Inquiry issued invitations to a series of group
meetings.
A total of
48 people from a range of departments, including the FCO, the MOD
and
DFID,
attended. No contractors responded to the Inquiry’s invitation.
Discussions at
the
meetings focused on strategy and delivery, and the support provided
to civilian staff
working in
Iraq.
47.
The Inquiry
has addressed a number of the points that were raised in
these
meetings,
but has not attributed those points to any individual.
48.
In identifying
areas to explore with witnesses and in drafting its account of
events,
the Inquiry
has necessarily relied heavily on official documents as the most
reliable
record of
government business, the factors which led to major decisions and
the
substance
of those decisions.
49.
The Inquiry
recognises that the documentary record cannot by itself
provide
a
comprehensive account of all that happened, but contemporary
documents have
particular
weight when their explicit purpose was to provide a formal record:
for instance,
minutes of
formal meetings or papers and submissions to Ministers which
sought
approval
for a specific decision.
50.
Individual
documents necessarily reflect the purpose for which they were
produced
and the
knowledge and perspective of their authors. Minutes of
meetings are necessarily
selective
and depend on judgements about what needs to be recorded and what
can
be omitted.
Dissenting views are likely to be under-represented, not least
because the
focus may
be on recording conclusions rather than the discussion. Records of
formal
meetings
would, however, have been circulated to the participants who were
able to
seek
amendments if they wished.
51.
Each document
has been considered and interpreted in the context of the
events
and issues
being addressed, its relationship to other contemporary documents,
and with
an
understanding of the language and professional background of the
author. Different
government
departments have their own styles and approaches.
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