Introduction
84.
The Inquiry is
satisfied that it has been provided with copies of all relevant
legal
advice and
other legal papers to which it has sought access. It is entirely
satisfied that it
has been
allowed to draw on such material to the extent that it considers
necessary both
to report
its findings and explain the basis on which those findings have
been made.
85.
Although the
Inquiry relied heavily on official documents as the most reliable
record
of
government business, it also drew on a wide variety of open source
material to
produce its
account.
86.
That material
particularly includes:
•
diaries,
memoirs, books and articles published by key
participants;
•
books and
articles published by academics, experts and
commentators;
•
newspaper
articles and reports, and transcripts of speeches and
interviews;
•
records of
Parliamentary proceedings and reports by Parliamentary
Committees;
•
documents
published by UK government departments, including annual
reports;
•
records of
discussions in the UN Security Council and reports to the
Security
Council;
•
documents
published by UN agencies, international institutions and
international
non-governmental
organisations;
•
reports
produced by and for the US Congress, and US Government
departments
and
agencies; and
•
evidence
offered to previous Inquiries and their analysis and
conclusions.
87.
Especially
when considered alongside official documents, such material
provided
valuable
insights into and context for the events considered by the
Inquiry.
88.
The Inquiry
recognises that open source material reflects the purpose for
which
it was
produced and the knowledge and perspective of its author. In a
number of
cases, the
Inquiry has not been able to take evidence from the author to
explore their
perspective.
The Inquiry has therefore considered carefully the nature of the
open
source
material that it has used, and how it has presented such material
in its account.
Wherever
possible, it has compared open source material to the documentary
record,
and in many
cases (for instance Mr Alastair Campbell’s diaries) there is a high
degree
of
consistency.
89.
The
conclusions reached in the Inquiry’s Report remain the Inquiry’s
own.
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